Sampurna Chattarji: Neither Reckless Nor Complacent
7.
I could call you Q, she said.
Like Q for quill, or Quasimodo.
Almost like you, that name.
Or that other, that supplier of miraculous gadgets.
“Nice to know old Q can still surprise you…”
There’s a line worth having, second only to
“If he’s Q, does that make you R?”
*
Renaming him rapidly,
she falls from consonant to vowel,
a white-water rafter
kayaking from fear to exhilaration at the speed of a sudden shout.
*
Between Q, and A, no questions, nor answers.
Just this summoning, simple
as only one syllable can be.