Bhupendra Kumar Dave, Poetry 2020 Longlist

Miss Thoba

Miss Thoba is a fatty teacher

Fattier than a fattiest creature

Whenever she gives us lecture

All her good teeth begin to chatter

Each word which she tries to utter

Slips on tongue as if on butter

Word flies like withered feather

But we catch them all in air

We munch them for one full hour

And get the taste of filthy ginger

It makes us cry all together

Miss Thoba then stops her lecture

But the words continue to linger

And ring sweetly in our ear

Miss Thoba is a nice teacher

She loves us an’ smiles forever.

         …Bhupendra Kumar Dave