Pot of culture - Tamanna Bangthai

A pot is on the stove in every household;

Water, beans, salt and emotions-

Everything boiling in a quiet chaos.

A mother's hand stirs the mixture every now and then,

Before the meals, after the clothes.

It's always summer in the kitchen,

Even when the only brothers of the house

are dieing in a cold war,

Even if the air inside stinks of sweat and suppressed rebellion.

The water keeps boiling,

Flooding the pot into a graveyard

of beans and emotions.

Unshed blood trickles down brows,

cheeks and the salty vessel.

The clouds gather outside-

Is it going to flood there too?

Do I hate humans?- Neha Borah

Being a hostage to linguistic tapestry, I find no solace,

No ethereal link to withstand time's pace.

Amidst this intricacy, am I a misanthrope?

Advancing in defiance, where deviance finds scope.

Hunching beneath repetition's heavy trance,

A choice between assimilation or a unique stance.

If I choose to lock the door, must that label define?

When close quarters nauseate my core, is "misanthrope" mine?

Yet, am I just a product of life's circumstances,

Budding from stories, caught in existential branches?

Rising to meet reality, stories lived or heard,

In this duality of tales, my essence stirred.

Is "misanthrope" a label that I should embrace?

When I seek solace in my own chosen space,

Society's norms seek to encase and mold,

Must I be broken for not fitting the fold?

Distant, selective, a realm perhaps of frost,

Qualities that some deem forever lost.

They don't allure me as they should,

For perhaps I'm not meant to be understood.

So, decide what you will, label or let be,

Because in the end, it's my essence that's free.

Amidst this dance of existence, I find my place,

In the unique rhythm of life, my soul does embrace.

A Yearn for Tranquillity- Vaishali Rastogi Sahni

I see you demons, I know your place in my psyche,

For you breed on my shadows, my fears and my lies.

You, the dark clouds that blind my vision,

Blur the doors and ways to my intuition.

You bring the stormy nights when I give in,

To the inhumanness of my brutal instincts.

I see you demons, I see you clear,

So, I call my gods, as I seek release,

Consider my urge, my will to fight,

Please stay with me, and hold me tight.

Listen to my prayers and attend to my plea,

You make me hopeful, to set me free.

I churn and churn, my inner sea of thoughts,

Where I am going? Where have I gone?

Find me my gods, please lead me back,

To a place in my heart where true happiness unpacks.

I know these thoughts are an invisible trap,

But I am utterly caught up, fixated in its wrap.

So, I wait patiently and work with you my gods,

To heal myself from all that makes me rot.

The Saree's Perspective- Krutika Zambre

I

am just a Saree,

Yet I'm certain,

If Van Gogh ever saw me, he'd paint

The Starry Night

A little earlier,

But that is alright,

Because Raja Ravi Varma did.

You see,

When he beheld,

Liquid gold

Dripping down

From the tender hold

Of the Woman Holding the Fruit,

Tucking me on her shoulder,

ever so slightly

As if gently tucking her hair,

He too saw beauty bare.

Oh, I was there!

When Damayanti dissolved,

In the gentle tear,

Of her yearning life, wistful despair,

For the swan prophesied,

Nala dared to love and loved to dare.

I am just a Saree,

But the secret lies rare

That I was woven soft from moonlight threads

to touch you

how milk touches a baby's chin

I am for the skin,

What red créme is for lips,

Thumka is for hips,

Aamras is for sips.

I carry the fragrance of mogra and sweat,

Wilfully absorbing all your sins.

I am the map of your moles,

Body and soul,

Soul and body,

Body and soul,

Soul and body,

Body and soul.

Oh, I know I am just a Saree,

But let me tell you,

The best way to wear me,

Is to remove me–

When you will,

If you will,

As you will.

And though they tell you differently,

Sakhi! Don't let the old men fool you.

Let me be silk, let me be see through.

Sakhi! Don't let the old men fool you.

I'm not here to hide your waist, but to frame it,

Admire it.

Sakhi! Don't let the old men fool you.

Your world isn't confined to a paithini's six yards.

Sakhi! Don't let the old men fool you.

Turn your modesty into a house of cards.

Sakha! Don't let the old men fool you.

You,

Can wear me too.

Oh, I am well aware I am just a Saree,

Yet within my Kodava pleats, I bear the anger of Kaveri

I hold your desire, your fire, your innocence, your rage,

I am here to safeguard your curves; who turned me into your cage?

Oh, I was there,

As they clad your sweetheart silken flesh garb more and more.

They may tear and fold history,

But in my embroidery, I etch the score.

I was there,

In every crime you concealed cruel behind shut doors.

I was there,

Honoring every Dalit heroine's knees; their frayed silk forbidden to touch the floor.

I was there,

Absorbing the blood from her breasts as Nangeli fought.

I was there,

When even justice abandoned Draupadi, but I ..

I did not

But oh,

Oh, you denizens of the world, you heed not

real voices of real people with real history and hearts

I,

Well, I am just a Saree.

काली बदली- Kartikeya Srivastava

आषाढ़ की भीगी रात,

काले बादल ठहरे है

अब, अँधेरे में

घाट की सीढ़ियों पर

खड़ा हु मै,

कुछ खास खोया नहीं है

अभी तक...

एक आईना बिछा है

पानी में, मेरे सामने

बहती लहरों से

उलझ रही है

तस्वीरें आईने की;

सूरज सोया है,

पहरे पर खड़ा

सब देख रहा है चाँद -

कही चित् चिताओ की

लपटों को उड़ते,

बहते पानी में विसर्जित

अस्थियो को उठते,

कही हवा में छिपकर

मैली अफवाहों को

किसी शहर-गाँव मचलते,

कहीं खोयी दिशाओ में

यौवन को ढलते,

किसी भीड़ में चलते

पैरो की आहट से

धड़कन की रफ़्तार बदलते,

कही बाढ़ में घर-मचान उजड़ते,

किसी रददी में

भीगे अखबार के पन्नों

पर पुराने वादों की

स्याह को धुलते |

ऐसे कई नज़ारो को घटते,

जैसे काली बदली के

जगह-अंजाम बदलते

और

(चारे में मछलियों सा)

फसते एक एक कर

आँखों में मेरी तुम्हारी।

Red- Vasudha Bachchan

Red

It was all red

The beautiful little dress with lace

The one that mama made me wear

Her stolen bindi on my face

Red

The color of youth, of love, of beauty, and care.

Red

It was all red

The roses in the small backyard

Where my brother and I used to play

Rudolph's nose on the Christmas card

Red

The color of lights, of water balloons, and Santa's sleigh.

Red

It was all red

The drops of blood in my underwear

The shame that I was taught to feel

The monthly pain I had to bear

Red

The color which now I couldn't reveal.

Red

It was all red

The clinking glasses of cabernet

And his cheeks as he took my hand

The color of my lips on Valentine's day

Red

The color of disapproval and a love that was damned.

Red

It was all red

The garland he put around my neck

And the fire that sealed my fate

My mother's embrace and my father's peck

Red

The color of weddings, of henna, and a strange new mate.

Red

It was all red

The stains I couldn't give the sheets

The proof a man's love demands

The anger and hatred that would never cease

Red

The color of character as this world understands.

Red

It was all red

The pain and the blood all worth the wait

Of the new life that suckled at my breast

A love so pure and free of hate

Red

The color of protection and a mother's nest.

Red

It was all red

The life that now begins to wane

The death that takes my red away

Which brings me both relief and pain

Red

The color that they made me need, the color that now they snatch away.

White

It is all white now

My life that I let others define

The choices that I could not make

The blame is no one else's but mine

White

The color of a life wasted away, full of regrets and bitter heartache.

Beauty of process ( A piece of conversation between a father and his daughter)- Sakshi Saraswati

You say I would grow even if all the things I never wanted are unfolding before me ,

And I am living here amidst this clown show.

How can this be easy?

How shall this pass?

My soft petal,be gentle with yourself ( He replied)

It's okay to feel the emotions you are having,

It's okay to pray for survival.

Do you remember how that strongest of trees fell off during the storm , how so many branches were lying down and the simple flower survived.(My Father asked me )

Miracle ,magic !!!( I exclaimed)

Might be one ,

It's not bad to have a place for miracles in our lives,

Be thankful to all the blessings you have in your "now",

Be thankful for the blessings you may not count presently,

We do encounter angels maybe sometimes in disguise.

But we were talking here about the "tree",I said

You know ,it's okay for the tree to fall or to loose some of its branches after fighting upto it's level best. (He continues....)

And for that ordinary yet beautiful flower to feel ebullient,

To enjoy the magic of it's patience afterall it has survived storm and heavy rains.

I asked -

Nobody would have expected so from that little flower.

The flower wasn't thinking about anyone actually (He replied)

The flower was focused on itself so much,

Having its own do or die battle

The struggle it was in that was far more important and was about its own existence,

Now that's greater than who admires it's beauty or who thought of its strength.

But the tree would have felt bad about its 'downfall'.....( I asked)

It had strong roots hard enough to bear the storm definately.

But the tree was once a little seed,

It has gone through a hard-core process , so many storms it has survived already,

It's okay to loose sometimes after giving your best try.

( My Father comforted me with his words)

The tree has got so much of experience,wisdom of survival are deeply written in its bark.

( I answered back )

But wait!

So many branches were fallen off ,it didn't looked like what it was before (I asked)

Why pondering so much? Everything gets healed with time,

( Papa just smiled while saying this)

The flower would have felt like a warrior

( I remarked)

Offcourse,

Why not?

The flower is allowed to feel its triumph and dance in the sunshine .

If pain comes in no bias format why shall victory be associated with few?

( He explained)

The flower is a warrior of its own battle,

Has got rights to cherish all the emotions .

( I smiled while my father said this)

Well you should not compare always,

See, everything falls into a place of perspective

Like the flower is so pretty .... everyone adores that.

But the plant,

The plant is in awe of the process.

When the little seed inhaled air for the first time ,it got a knock about the time it has to go through in order to flower....

"Complex process",for a simple and sweet flower.

"Patience" , the process teaches

(No shortcuts,I interrupted)

You can't skip , "The beauty of Process".

( And I .....

I smiled with a sense of relief when Papa said that)

Stare-gazing- V. Akshai Kumar

Staring at the sky watching the clouds move ,

I remember the night when I danced with you .

Staring at the sky watching the stars shine,

I remember the day when you said you were mine.

Staring at the lights

watching them glow up this town,

I remember how you stood by me when I fell down.

Staring at the trees watching them shake in the breeze ,

I remember how you’d hold up your sneeze .

Staring at the plane watching it fly across ,

I remember how the distance between us grew so fast.

Staring at the empty roads watching them cover up in shadows,

I remember how we became fierce foes.

Staring at the night and just watching it pass by ,

I still remember

your last goodbye.

The Stag- Rishabh Motwani

Nature’s not swift to answer this inquirer who’s interested,

it keeps him at bay;

gives just subtle responses—

to keep him from making the chase.

Especially when the season’s damned.

Like the rain,

with its clairvoyance and surreal timing—

it always falls in conjunction with my tears.

And, I ask,

“Why such antilogy, between state and responsibility?”

Why do I have to be bounteous in providing,

when I have the same deficiencies?

Why such dichotomy?

Why do I have to helm this power, of which I can never be a recipient?

I don’t even have to sniff to tell when something’s off,

I know exactly what your ears want to eavesdrop on,

even if you try your hardest not to let it on,

I know everything your mouth redacts, and everything to which your eyes give a pass.

I can emulate and even paint my heart the same blue,

to understand what you’re going through.

But what’s the use?

I’m not being ungrateful,

please don’t misconstrue…

It’s just distasteful—

when everyone’s blind to the parts of myself that I have to lose,

just for their breakthrough.

I am never able to find the way back to myself,

whenever I reacquaint someone with their truest self.

Will Graham—

will he find his way back to his own abode?

Doubtful,

as he jumped in too!

Heightened empathy didn’t brace him for the fall,

and now nobody knows his whereabouts.

He made about every chase,

all the while running from himself,

but nobody came for his save,

and now he’s probably slain by the same antlers that petrified him.

But God only knows.

What if I follow in his footsteps, unbeknownst?

What if I’m haunted by the same ghost?

Oh, cursed is my existence,

so, I wail.

My heart’s wretched from past layers,

it becomes more beautiful with every new wreckage,

Ugh!

What do I do with it?

Don’t know…

So, I wail and I wail.

Then it rained,

Nature’s way of numbing my pain…

but it won’t work today!

This blue is devilish,

it’ll consume me if somebody doesn’t come for my save,

the hero will fall again today.

And he indeed did;

I slipped as the thunder struck.

Useless adrenaline kicked in only after a moment too late,

I was out of luck!

Now I’m gasping while falling midair,

ironic how I can’t breathe even after overdosage,

air’s screaming in my ears louder than I am,

and my tears, my spit can no longer follow my mouth open.

And splat!

After the blackout,

I could still feel me,

faint yet prominent,

like the break of dawn after a moonless night.

I thought it was the end,

but somebody had saved me,

dragged me out of these mud pools of self-pity.

It was a Stag, golden.

And as I eyed it,

it paced forth and drew closer,

and it caressed me.

Stroked me gently and sent me to sleep with an inner vision.

I asked the angelic voice glowing inside my head,

”Why was I cursed?”

It replied with a sweetness unparalleled,

”My Love, it was for your own protection.”

And I regained from the comatose, half-baffled.

The Stag had left when I’d woken,

so, it took a while to make sense of the revelation.

But the first thing I saw after that certainly was a token—

a rare bloom flower,

that had got a new life in the soil of its dead past selves.

It marked the beginning,

the beginning of the rewriting.

I finally understood what I bring to the table,

I finally understood why I can't reduce my passion to the mere shedding of layers,

why I can’t limit my standards of devotion,

why I can’t depend on anyone—forever.

It's a curse meant for my protection, because it’s preeminent.

Ah!

Nature, you did your thing.

Composed my stellar new theme by playing on my heartstrings—

well worth the risk.

Now I can see wood for the trees,

and waves for the ocean.

Now I know where Graham was coming from and where he might’ve ended up…

Meet me where the dreamers dream- Nitya Sharma

(A poem dedicated to those who confide in the stars and the Moon of the night.)

Her heart is a sorrowful cemetery of softly whispered 'almosts' that were lost in time ,

and when the sky's sapphire shades fade away into an unfathomable darkening abyss

they wickedly steal her sleep and torment her in her dreams like a bittersweet rhyme ,

of the words that are helplessly flooding inside her head and never reach the shore of her lips

She stretches her slender hands to touch the Moon who guides the dreamers that swim at night ,

and to hold the stars that are radiantly ardent like little life boats scattered across for those who wander

the cosmos disguises itself into an incredibly eternal sea that beckons to those who lay awake in the faint light ,

to the ones who believe in the pure magic of love to stay afloat against the tempestuous billows in sight.

© Nitya Sharma 2022. All rights reserved.

Sad and sadder- Lekha Negi

Premise of a distinguished eatery

I slouched as we waited for our sweet dough

Me and my beau

Uninvolved in our short lived discourse

I had brutally invaded what tried to be a family supper but lacked enterprise, on a parallel table as I recall

Eavesdropping on the audible

I gawked as late as I broke my heart with what I saw

Wounding of a frail soul, a toddler doll

Outstretching her limbs and her infantile dialogue

Yearning to be tended

Screaming her throat of a hatchling

Her tender pink mouth, her appeal, gibberish

All to acquire attention but failing

Like a crimson heart of a butchered hen, she was exposed

Whilst her mother and possible sister stared through their phones that shone

on their faces like glowworms

The two women had abandoned the doll

If only I could comb out her unrest through my fingers into her wavy hair shawls

And it was only when her poor heart yielded

And bulbous tears rampaged

Till mucus in her lungs roared

That her unresponsive mother responded

In a fairly agitated tone

But into oblivion her voice was now lost

Her face rather resigned

A defeat she appeared to often endure

Perhaps into an unwilling memory I had walked

As a voice testified, confined behind my jaws

“She was but a fish tossed far from the shore”.

Hopeless Romantic- Aaishwarya Joshi

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SCENERY

FAR BEACH, RAINS AND GREENERY

SEARCHING FOR THAT FEELING

WHILE LISTENING TO AND SINGING

THERE IS NOT EVEN A SECOND WHEN I DON’T MISS HIM

EVEN THOUGH I HAVN’T MET HIM

YET FEELING THAT EMOTION

HOPING TO MEET HIM ONCE WITH PASSION

DO THAT FEELING REALLY EXIST?

WHERE LOVE IS SEEN THROUGH EYES

WHERE FAITH STILL CONTINUES BEHIND

WHERE EVEN LOVING IS NOT ENOUGH

YOU WANNA SURRENDER YOUR LIFE

SELFLESSLY WITH NO BLUFF

OR MAYBE ITS JUST MY IMAGINATION

WANTING TO COME TRUE WITH SO PASSION

OH, I WISH IF IT COULD HAPPEN

WHERE EVEN HE WANTS ME WITH PASSION

GAZING AT ME WITH A SMILE

PRAYING FOR ME TO BE IN HIS LIFE

WHERE EVEN HE IS SEARCHING FOR THAT FEELING

WHILE LISTENING TO AND SINGING.

New Gods- Rishabh Motwani

As time went on, you had to exert influence,

just hurting and assaulting in the literal sense wasn’t enough, I guess.

You wanted to reduce them to a concept,

an associative complement,

nothing on its own,

a voiceless ornament.

The old ones were better in comparison,

at least they didn’t wilfully reduce somebody’s existence to mere association.

Thinking a woman is only ever fit to be a man’s wife,

you place her under a glass ceiling—

clip her wings, peg her ambitions,

and cage her in an environment that deters her journey before it even begins.

How abhorrent!

All the cuss words are centered around women and used incessantly by tasteless little men,

while proving their point,

that nobody wants to listen.

Eve and Sita facing the sole brunt of Man’s Lust—insatiable,

since time immemorial.

And the language chosen can be very telling,

especially of the source from where it’s originating.

You really have to nosedive and sink to the deepest pits of misogyny and envy to put together words that revolting!

But you can only do so much to hurt someone,

and centuries of oppression and subjugation,

have made these wingless angels,

breathers of fire!

Now they fear no one.

A state one achieves when they’ve seen everything.

I’m not surprised that these angels have started referring to themselves as ‘Goddesses’,

they’ve moved on from the ‘Men’ that had claimed to have ‘made them’.

It’s full circle.

It’s long deserved.

Amidst the chaos, they were always destined for emancipation.

कवी- Yogita Takatrao

काय असते हो नक्की कविता?

कोणी सांगेल का मला

कविता वावरत असते आसपास

सगळे कवीलाच लागतात शोधायला !

कवितेत कवी शोधायचा नाही .. कधीच...

तो असतो एक माध्यम सशक्त ,

ज्यांना होता येत नाही व्यक्त

त्यांच्या मौनाचा हंबरडा आणि वेदनेचा हुंकार फक्त !

कवितेत कवी शोधायचा नाही..

त्याला जोडायचं नाही कवितेतल्या पात्रांशी

त्याच्या लिखाणात ...

आपल्याच भावना शोधायच्या नाही !

सतत का करायचं परीक्षण

त्याच्या कवितांचं भांडवल कधी करायचं नाही

आणि कवितेत कवी कधी शोधायचा नाही !

कवी म्हणजे काय हो ?

प्रतिबिंब समाजमनाचं

कोलमडलेल्या मनाला पाठबळ आधाराचं

चालू घडामोडींवर प्रभुत्व ओळींचं !

अन्याय सहन करून देखील ज्याला फुटत नाही वाचा ..

मौनातच गौण राहण्याचा ज्यांचा असतो साचा,

निराशेच्या गर्तेत ज्याची संपते आशा

कविता असते अशांसाठी उन्हातली छाया !

कधी विनोदात लपेटलेला दुःखांचा हास्यफवारा..

कवी तर असतो फार वेगळा,खोल अन् गहिरा,

काव्यातला मुखवटा त्याला सतत चढवायचा नाही

आणि कवितेत कवी कधी शोधायचा नाही !

कविता लिहिण्यासाठी नाहीच जरूरी..

प्रत्येक घाव काळजावर झेलणं ,

आजूबाजूला घडणाऱ्या गोष्टीत

फुलतं त्याचं लिहिणं

नसतेच प्रसन्न प्रत्येकावर

प्रतिभेची लेखणी ,

योग्य शब्दांना काव्यात गुंफण्याचं कसब

प्रतिभेलाच जमत हसतखेळत !

विषयांच्या दुनियेत फिरतो अवांतर..

दुखऱ्या मनावर घालतो फुंकर ,

वेदनेचा आवरेना गहिवर

एक कविता स्फुरते अन् भाव होतो अनावर !

कुणाच्यातरी वेदनांची तार ,

कवितेशी येते जुळून

पोळणाऱ्याचं मन शांत

होऊन जातं कविता वाचून !

म्हणूनच या वैद्याचं दुकान कुठे शोधायचं नाही

त्याच्या शब्दांचा शब्दशः अर्थ कधी घ्यायचा नाही ,

व्यक्त होणाऱ्या संवेदनांना कधी छेडायचं नाही

आणि कवितेत कवी शोधायचा नाही !

कवितेत कवी कधीच शोधायचा नाही....

The last dusk- Muskan Bhupesh

Glancing to the ceiling;

Next to the window,

half past noon;

Still in sheets.

Swaying, eyes to brain

back and forth again

in the beauty of naked silence resilient

Piling off the bed

in blues, with cracking beeps outside.

I stormed past the room

to the main door

digging the peep hole deep.

Prompting, my curtain drawn past

now seemed teary.

Running back to the room

I arrayed down, hiding my tissues within.

Unlatched my cosy live-in

prior the next wild knock planting.

In dimmed smile, ‘Namaste Dadaji’

escaped my lips.

Bowing down to his feet

I took my share of blessings.

Two familiar figures

with smirking face

infiltrated in bereft space of my shielding.

Defensive; My mum’s voice

pulled strings

all behind.

‘Uncle bhi aaye h’, demanding the welcome

to be refined.

Exchanging our gazes

I snapped down on floor sheets.

My gauged heart I stitched for years

felt the unease

Obliged to touch his feet,

My innocence, caged in resentment

Wondering, if this brush was enough

to recollect his past thunder-

the dusk; the sorry faces;

scent of grandma’s cremating remains

The endless faith taking me

to follow him blindfolded

Hastily, falling in a sea of nowhere

Waxed and probed with his filth hands

quenching his thirst

Sniffing clothes inside.

Panicked to save the physical me

leaving in lurch, how all terrified.

My flooded heart and weeping soul

so far I betrayed

Concealing back his gruesome sins

luring my world at stake

Suffocating inside, zipped lipped

alone for all these cold nude nights.

Wishing to ask him;

by all this, if he was satisfied-

Now getting back on my spine

I walked out of the room

With scratched old scars,

overfilled heart

finally clogging the aisle

to my lost elegant shine.

AN ODE TO TEARS- Joyeeta Biswas

Ever been to the shoreline at dawn?

With the wind blowing unsure of a separation or union-

Yet the waves give an undying promise to kiss the sand;

And the unadulterated beauty floods your vision.

But you claim “it’s the salt pricking the eye!"

Have you ever lost someone you loved?

When belying those unfulfilled promises becomes the hardest part,

Every song swells up your eyes as memories twist the knife stuck in your chest;

And the logical mind is at constant war with the unreasonable heart.

But you sniff away saying “ it’s the flu burning the eyes!”

Were you ever left homeless under a dark stormy sky?

When whirlwinds threaten your existence and lightening crashes without a care;

A helpless prayer springs out of those reddened eyes

And tomorrow seems doomed shrouded in ominous fear.

But you let the rain hide the tears and thunder drown the cries!

Did you ever feel the solace of being acknowledged?

After years of struggle, hopeless days, sleepless nights and self doubting debates ;

The moment finally arrives - recognised by the audience, understood by your people, heard by the universe;

And the unending interlude gives way to peaceful acceptance of fate.

But you fight to hold back the tears as your heart rejoices!

Where words fall short and emotions are overwhelming,

Whether trembling hands or sweaty feet, pursed lips or pounding chest;

Tears help to bridge the distance between breakpoint and survival -

Be the trough of failure or on glory's crest!

At your best or at your worst – they are your window to the world,

So let them flow, do not be ashamed, do not wipe or hide;

And the next time you wake up on a wet pillow,

Remember you made it till here, and own them with pride!

Those crystals convey your truth, they negotiate your sanity with stress -

Although through stained cheeks, heavy lashes or not an instagrammable smile;

But tears let you breathe, tears share your burden,

And tears are a sign that you are human, you are still alive!

Blood Stains- Sappho Anon

Nothing distinctive distinguishes our lineage.

There are no tangible heirlooms to honour and pass down

No folklore, no traditions, no silly anecdotes

No accounts of valiant men fighting the first war of independence

Or any subsequent ones, really

Emancipation is not a concept we're familiar with.

Well, there is one story

I'm blanking on the details;

I'm sure my mother could quote it verbatim

Ages ago, my grandmother's great-grandmother

Witnessed a bush catch fire and die, and thought no more of it—

She turned her back to a forest ablaze.

The forest was sacred; it unleashed something ungodly—

I've seen it with my own eyes

Mother considers it as something holy, still

All our forefathers have preserved it well—

Collective trauma, unfulfilled desires—

They've clutched it in their iron fist.

Moral policing, constant surveillance,

Preaching God's will incessantly.

Sanctioned asphyxiation is child's play, elementary

We're taught early; we're taught well.

No display of affection, complete indifference,

Cruelty begetting cruelty.

Our bodies know nothing about crescendo, diminuendo

Though mother was a singer once—before she was silenced—

Before the fumes from the fire took hold of her lungs

There is no music, it said

There is only monotone

There is no room for emotion.

Every room in the house is filled to the brim,

Flooding over with unwept tears.

Scattered around haphazardly, floating with no restraint,

Are shoes too big to fill, pearls too heavy to carry.

My sister doesn't see it that way

She handles things with grace.

I've been the black sheep, the anomaly,

The wet dog stinking up the house

Gouging and biting back,

Weeping, wailing, screams ricocheting off the walls

Swollen throat and severed hands

Scarlet screeches of agony.

But then, my darling, the guilt began to settle in.

Look— it makes itself at home right in my chest

It lingers; it festers like a gunshot wound

It turns my body into a cemetery,

Into a chamber for cryo-conservation,

I carry my aunt's sadness and echo my mother's beliefs.

The family curse reverberates in my bones—

A constant reminder of our roots—

You, too, will throw up dead flies yet chant the same prayers as your ancestors

Honey, I have spent the entirety of my life under my mother's roof,

Please believe me when I say this

There is no scope for resistance or revolution.

There are days, still,

When I want to take a chainsaw to the family tree,

Put an end to the supply of kerosene

Let the bushfire die with me

But I am my mother's daughter; you are mine

We're fools to expect an alternative ending.

Traces- Mansha

When someone leaves they leave their traces behind.

Hair strands in your clothes

Cigarette butts that were smoked together.

Half finished ones like the conversations you could never finish

Like there was always so much to say and always very little time.

When you left

The creases on my sheets kept reminding me of you

Your hair strands with the blue hair colour on them

Weird how it still hasn't washed off?

Don't worry, I don't hold on to my feelings anymore

We can force our minds not to think about each other still

But what do you do with these traces?

Do I throw out the cigarette butts?

You never lit them off fully, there was always a spark left behind, burning slowly to the end

I never stomped them off too because maybe I wanted to keep the spark? However slow it might get

I remember the day we decided to separate

Felt like two ships sinking together and no one could save them

There was a mutual understanding that we were both drowning but no one could save another

I hear you have found someone to stomp out your cigarettes fully now

I am not jealous,

Maybe a little?

How do you find someone so perfect to replace all the gaps we left out?

Maybe it is not about finding someone perfect

Maybe it is about being so imperfect together that they are the only person who could see through you

The other day, I saw a couple hug each other

And I remembered you used to say, if you hug someone tight enough you could squeeze out the sadness from them like we squeeze out the last ounce of toothpaste using all our strength to get the last bit out?

I used to laugh it off then, but I think I get it now

When you hug someone you tell them you care, that if they die someday, you'll be sad

I will leave this letter open ended because I never want to stomp out your cigarettes.