A flash of tree-skirt bounces off a barn wall
onto an old fence onto the svelte coat of a horse
finding itself in a meadow
then in a harness
en route to a moderate gallop cruising for daisies
and delphiniums too soon
the fields run into highways
Screeches shrieks
speed up or stay away
both fill its ears and lungs
with inquiries about unwelcome nostalgia or was it
the shadow of a rainbow puddle
ask where to visit on highways there are
no patches of grass no smells to limp on --
Speech steps in or was it a whinny meaning
why are you doing this meaning back off stay clear off
a peace you can’t have
not even in a poem or a space in a dream
turn your flanks your back to wherever else
because nothing else fits you
turn around then right take a right turn the images are
what they want to be and your family
wants to be named one by one.
Poetry
Right Turn | Gerburg Garmann
-
His Arms, Her Waves | Snigdha Ghose
By: Snigdha GhoseTo the days and nights, the morning prayers, lost in the void, of his fears, walking the pavement, gazing at the timber, far across the blues, hearing the whimper of the asters, the time was transient, a standstill, in sense,…
-
An elegy for a not-yet-dead-love | Lakshmi Chithra
By: Lakshmi ChithraWhen your love has lived long enough, You have to check for signals to confirm it’s alive. A caress, the normal pulse. a hug, the rhythmic breath. A very rare act of love-making, the zig-zag lifelines on a medical screen.…
-
Judas Window | Davis Varghese
By: Davis VargheseA sea of sand so limerent. Stalks its languid prey under a midsummer sun. A pitiful camel and its sun-stroked captain. Elements of pathos, on the verge. Pursued blatantly by an army of rolling dunes. Wisps of green, simmer on…
-
I Look Inward | Sheetal Agarwal
By: Sheetal AgarwalA tiny ray of the mighty sunWipes the darkness awayToeing the path shown by the enlightened oneMy bilboes one-by-one decay
-
In Flight | Sri Lal
By: Sri LalIn Flight Into your fiery mouth, I rush. I am ash. I am beyond myself, no longer a daughter cast out,
-
Saffron and the Seven Sins | Shanaia Kapoor
By: Shanaia KapoorA naked Kali dances atop the mantlepiece. The smell of paraffin hangs in the air Like the death of glory on a breeze. This night would be a cold one. My sisters warn me about how Like the red and…
-
On Being Left | Ron Riekki
By: Ron RiekkiShe’s ashamed of my eyes. She’s left my eyes to the fish. My lips are abandoned buildings. My jaw is Detroit. My feet live below the poverty line. I am trapped in traps. She is made of milk and jewels…
-
August to September | Bindiya Bedi Charan Noronha
A beginning A glowing promise beckons Days are short; time is shorter. Surprise around the corner In autumnal tones awaits I am in turmoil Wanting the radiance of new Desperate to leave history behind Rid the sterile pessimism of Unfulfilled…
-
When ‘Nothing’ is Up, and Everything is as ‘Usual’ | Prateek Joshi
By: Prateek JoshiI was brushing off the memories of yesterday over a pause in the afternoon when I heard a knock on my pillow. A person I had met once before called from the door. Greetings were passed. ‘Nothing’ was up and…
-
A Forgery | Prateek Joshi
By: Prateek JoshiThere is hope only for the dead — they who have been buried or are willing to burn. I shape myself with life — a hungry mantis fighting to keep death away I hasten within — the scream of a…
-
The Winter Months | Gautham Pradeep
By: Gautham PradeepTrying to sleep but butterflies fill me. Every face I’ve known seem sealed in my memory. The trinkets of hair I once owned, now just hills on the countryside. Only if I would forget my past, three pawns and an…
-
Poem to Myself | C M Brown
By: C M BrownAcross the plain where dust moves like a little creature running from itself, there is a room in the palace where I lie down on the soft carpet. I listen to Sri Sattru playing an evening Raga on his…