Poetry at Sangam
Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.
the way a hairpin slid off your tongue’s edge you’d think the mouth
was its rightful seat you’d assume the face to be more beautiful than mask
who are we then if not that peeled shadow on mooning banks
right across the table over dinner the palimpsest mouth settling shy
like a coin on a breathing navel
who are we
but twice, thrice, infinite
the way news of a death pickles my abdomen’s fur blood feigns
disappearance there’s no home for some memories so beautiful that
irrevocable stirs a stomach’s torque when the opaque moon clips
my crescent nails I look for you in devastated gaze I call for help
the angels who planted the bed we slept on once
in the hotel by the sea where lime
forever seeped now I treat decay with dollops of desire
the way irreconcilable balms so you may go to work, drink coffee, make eye
contact your head floating on oceans of data buoyed by fibers
glittering like electric reefs arresting dopamine to screens
how in grief it’s difficult to believe we have 37 trillion cells conceiving
wonder can you saddle our spines then race our hearts
across the town’s clouding
lake our feet tapping a swan’s thunder
the way you hinge on a flower drooping remains of the passing week
on a stoic boat circling for pleasure a wide eyed tourist says the colour of honey
belies fire I leave beds in glorious desolation on all fours to leave my crawl
on another’s mirror from an airplane window I see countlessness revive
nakedness of organs doused in the hiss of sulphur rains
here’s detail here’s where tender ball’s born
what crib which thread where goes detail