The following poem by Sonali Pattnaik from Ahmedabad, Gujarat was selected as a commendable mention in Wingword Poetry Prize 2020
the falling from above
of water reminds us
that the story of water
remains half told
water gives, takes, dances
and destroys
it surrenders without
relinquishing a drop
of its power
it’s a paradox,
a talisman of
the truth in resistance
do not let water
and its generous falling
trick you into believing
that she is gentle and appeasing
she flows, feeds and forms
for herself alone
water is held and holds
without boundaries
banks are contours
to her infinite body
your banks she is certain
to break and overflow
she is not made to be controlled
through the years, ever so silently
she will rearranged
the mighty land’s structure
through her meandering course
like love, water only
appears contained
the fount of all birth
water never truly belongs
it is not only fire that undoes
water caught, chased,
choked and harmed
is self-damnation
she will explode every pore
of the parched firmness
you stand upon
water is given to release
and flow not to fall
she will become you as you immerse
in the end over your limbs fold
the falling of water from
above reminds us that
water will not be caught
let her be many,
let her fondle
and enter the earth
to rise again and again
she is here for love
for it is not fire, but water
that ignites many a hunger
and ends many a thirst
water, a testament
to life’s divine and delicious
contradictions
was here first
yet her story
remains to be told