Warmth
Thiruvanmiyur in a 360×640
topples
the edge of utterances.
Our interjections quiver
behind a cold
December screen.
Full stops and commas swim
in framed
secluded rectangles.
Silence throbs in wintertide
melting
the miles between us.
***
Drag*
After T.S.Eliot
Tonight the burnt-out
ends
of smoky days
singe unsuspecting
paws of
stray emotions
as they entice vagrant
drag-desires
into indignity,
polluting our meaning-
less
geographies.
Tonight, they litter sidewalks
and streets
like entry-level poetry.
*From T.S.Eliot's 'The Preludes'
***
Sunflowers
(After a visit to cafe Lazy Suzy, Bangalore)
The walls of this cafe are painted
yellow, and there is hot chocolate
in china snuggled in our palms.
Colors must have something to do
with memory, because the yellow
of these walls reminds me of
the yellow Chumbak top I'd bought
earlier today, which had cost me
more than its worth, really. Just
last week we had yellow flowers
in our hair, me and my sister,
and we had clicked a lot of pictures.
The flowers lay forgotten thereafter.
I had told you of my sunflower
obsession one autumn, shared
a picture of the painting I'd made
with so much love. We'd both agreed
on just how bad it was. The walls, yes,
the walls of this cafe are painted
yellow, and there is hot chocolate
in china snuggled in our palms.
You see the yellow of longing
in my eyes, and you say those
three words, measured and exact,
'Please Move On'
***
Bangalore Talkies
A heartbreak sleeps
in your bed every night.
This October has a borderline
alcohol problem.
We trip between words
(un)written, you and I.
In my imagination, I understand
all of this too well.
In your reality, it's really the drink
that drinks you*.
*Line from a piece titled Exploding Sadness by A.S.Y
***
Nikita Parik holds a Master's in Linguistics, a three year diploma in French, and another Master’s in English. Her debut book of poems, Diacritics of Desire, was launched at Oxford Bookstore, Delhi, in April 2019.
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