PICKLING SEASON

Every summer, we laze under the mango tree

discussing unpatented recipes. When raw mangoes

drop on our head, we pause

to appreciate nature’s bounty.

Then on to peeling, chopping, salting,

boiling, spicing, bottling…

Will the sorcery work?

By year’s end, we hope, when

the pungent brine matures to its prime.

The zing depends on turmeric balancing the tamarind,

the chili complimenting the amchur,

and if the asafoetida poured in candle light

late one night works for pickles

as it seldom does for couples, apart

since the first pickling season.

The alchemy has rarely bewitched,

jaggery sours, vinegar sears the tongue.

To change the recipe we’ve tried

with old ladies’ advice,

but nature moves inexorably,

and life proceeds predictably

beneath the mango tree.