Engaged in a Duel, Duet | Vivek Sharma

Like two lovers on a see-saw –
one earthly, one levitated

like an ear lobe and a tongue –
breathing the same whisper

like a prophet and a deity –
subsisting on a shared faith,

or gazing into a telescope
two infinities, chess-players:

shadow, image of each other,
tango-dancers, duet-singers,

duelists, the Rig Veda pair:
two friends perched together

one relishes the ripe fruit,
the other fasts, witnesses.

Indian Literature | Indian Review Author | Vivek Sharma‘s first book of verse The Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 2009) was shortlisted for Muse India Young Writer Award 2011. His work in English appears in Atlanta Review, Bateau, Poetry, The Cortland Review, Muse India, Reading Hour among others while his Hindi articles and verses appear in Divya Himachal (Hindi newspaper, India), Himachal Mitra and Argala. Vivek grew up in Himachal Pradesh (Himalayas, India), and moved to the United States in 2001. Vivek is a Pushcart nominated poet, is published as a scientist and he lives and teaches in Chicago.