As we look back on our recently concluded 30 Days, 30 Poems Project celebrating National Poetry Month and continue to mark Mental Health Awareness Month in May, we are sharing this piece today, about the intersection between the two. If you are in the US and need urgent mental health assistance, you can call, text…
Category: Another World Within
Strawberries
I bought strawberries today. Every day, she picks one thing, a single occurrence, polishes it painstakingly in her head like a rolling marble until, by nightfall, she can present it to him, magnified and encased. Turned over as a token, whispered over the phone line that stretches between them, so that there is no silence. …
Safety in Somedays
Someday, I will wake up and understand what everything was for. I will watch the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening. As the moon finds its home in the sky, I won’t think how I miss you. I will be able to talk about you without tears, without tightness. Someday, I’ll be…
Onward and Upward and Inward
“Arrey Sambhal ke!”(Hey, be careful!) I heard the guide shout. Except, it was just one second too late. My shoe caught on a rock and I slid down the slope, the terrifying act happening so quickly that I didn’t even register it. And I’m glad that the slope was gentle and my slide ended with…
“Picking Olives” and “Water as transitive”
Picking Olives Picking olives feels likePopping bubblewrapSatisfying thwap!Fingers pressSlight give Serotonin rush Or maybe it’s the other way around MaybeJust maybeMy need to runItching and burningAt my legsIs just my great222GrandparentsRunning all dayAgainst the windAgainst the elk and deerAgainst the wilting of the grains The chewing on pencilsIs my DNA longingFor my perfect WhiteTeeth to…
Saskia Hamilton: World Poetry Day
Saskia Hamilton (1967- 2023) was my teacher when I was a student at Columbia. She was on the faculty at Barnard, and one of the first classes I took was her Poetics, a lecture of about thirty students. A couple years later, I took her Advanced Poetry Writing seminar. Can I start by saying I…
Lace
I wear a suit of armour made of lace. Just pretty enough to distract you Maybe catch your eye across the room But too pretty to avoid your undesired attention Your finger chafed the last of my lacy defence It slithered up and down the effortlessly penetrable thread Swooping every curve Memorising its patterns…
Mount Olympus High: Atalanta
Heart thumping, feet pounding, and muscles burning. Atalanta breathes in the cold, fresh air, and all other thoughts leave her mind as she focuses only on one thing; the finish line. To outsiders, she is a bolt of lightning streaking down the track, leaving her competition in the dust. Atalanta bounds and leaps gracefully, footfalls…
For you to Stay
If I could have lobbied the gods for you to stay,I would have sunk to my knees.Asked them to choose any price.Diamonds and gold and dignity forjust one change: all the times I was too tired,too impatient,turn them to kindness. And if their glacial eyes did not seem too shocked, I would add,let me remember to…
Yentl, Tragedy, and the Unanswerable Question
“Yentl” is my favorite short story. Sort of. Let me explain. There’s a joke that the question a reader/writer hates most is also the most frequently asked: “what’s your favorite book.” Or “what’s your favorite short story?” It’s such a personal question. The answer has everything to do with who I am deep down; who…