THE DEVIL’S TREE
As a child, my spine got chills
hearing them tell
Yakshi lived on the palm tree,
took the forms of pretty maidens
enticed men for carnal enjoyment
and devoured them.
These wandering souls
waited under the pala tree,
on Friday nights, so they said,
for victims, thirsty of revenge,
hovered around midnight
in white tresses and long open hair.
Fragrance of jasmine
proved their presence.
I became a prisoner of beliefs,
scared to venture out after dusk
266