Poetry Corner

'Hope’ is the thing with feathers

EMILY DICKINSON

~

'Hope’ is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –

And sore must be the storm –

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land –

And on the strangest Sea –

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of Me.

******

 Like Air

BY LAURA HERSHEY

~

Like air

we float kite words

fragile signals

and hearts flap

purple wings

Like air

my struggling lungs

seize you

gasp relief

release long-held breaths desire

expanding

capacity unknown

welcoming gulps

of future

Like air

I need clarity

shot through with sunlight

invisibly to buoy me

towards an idea called us

My dreams

are mostly silent

Does something

besides distance

obscure us?

Like air

intimacy should be a right

for now

it is only a promise

Like air

you travel my blood's hungry stream

to every limb

this is how

for now

we touch

*********

A WOMAN'S HUNGER IS BLASPHEMY

...

Poem BY Ananya Chatterjee

~

"Where do all the leftovers go?"

You wonder and I say-

They slither quietly

down the entrails of a quiet woman.

Heaped over, a dense mishmash

of colourless curries from yesterday,

day before ... and forevermore

Their flavors flattened

beyond the realms of taste.

She eats in a rush always in a rush..

eyes lowered, curtained glance...

She bites her lips smeared with grub

clears her throat for another lump..

For her it's another job

To be done. Nothing less. Nothing more.

"And then? What happens then?"

You wonder and I say-

And then, somewhere

in the airless dark..

a shadow lurks. A shadow lying in wait.

More leftovers. For her quiet entrails.

Another job to be done. Nothing less.

Nothing more.

"How can she take this

day after day..

night after night..

this decaying taste

of things from yesterday..

day before.. and forevermore..

How can she stand her terrible hunger? "

You wonder and I say- Shut Up.

Yes. Shut up.

In a world choking on leftovers

A woman's hunger is blasphemy.

*******