I long to sit with you
in a crowded theatre
so I can yell
“desire!”
because from
here to California
it is love in the time
of Corona
and so I will
live stream me
if you promise
to FaceTime you
because our
favorite restaurant
is closed except
for take-out
so we have to
go to a park
if we want to
make out
and no this pill
I am giving you
is not ecstasy
even better
sweetheart
it’s vitamin C
More at http://www.ivanjenson.com/.
Listen
it’s not you
it’s this pandemic
so I kinda need
personal space
right now
I need to stay
at least six feet
away from love
so blame the virus
for what is happening
with us
under other circumstances
I would kiss you
just below your earlobe
but right now
I’m a total germaphobe
look I know you’re not pleased
but what hurts me most
is not that you cried
but that you sneezed
More at http://www.ivanjenson.com/.
Humanity is a cruel
And painful hangnail
The body snatchers
Hunting the innocent
A long funeral procession
As wolves cry
And elephants mourn
Those running for positions
Of power
The monotone lie
That keeps repeating
Like a drone
We are hypnotized
A herd of sheep
Genetically altered
Babies drowning
In shallow waters
Being used as props
Hanging from the necks
Of those with burnt flesh
A reminder to our conscience
Change is a coin
Not a noun
Shirtless truths can be as convincing
As draped lies
Here where electricity
In cities is drained
For romance and a tête-à-tête
On a cosy couch with danish cookies
At a well-walled tea party.
The lies here uttered
Are tobacco to your lungs,
In vogue and considered classy
Among them
Cancering the kernel,
The kernel of exaction
In a dissertation of life.
—–
Pragati Gupta is a masters student in English in the University of
Calcutta after her bachelors from Loreto College, Kolkata. An avid
reader and poet, she desires to pursue her career in academics.
He arrived just before the curtain
Stepping on toes
Squeezing past knees
Nesting himself
In the seat next to me
Squirming to find
A comfortable position
He’s conflicted unscripted
Unwritten self directed
He fell asleep
Missed the part in the middle
Same theater
He can’t believe it’s the same play
Lost a few chapters in his life
An impatient angel
Waiting in the wings
Hears his voice
As if spoken by another
He asks
Is this the last act
We’ll have to
Wait and see
Look up at the day’s sky and tell me what you see.
Do you see rainbows and sunlight?
Or do you see grey clouds and rain?
The sky shows our pain
The sky shows our pain
Pathetic fallacy oh you know me more than me.
Pathetic fallacy please tell me what you see in me.
Look up at the night’s sky and tell me what you see.
Do you see an array of star light? Or do you see see pitch black
valleys?
The sky shows our pain
The sky shows our pain
Pathetic fallacy oh you know me more than me.
Pathetic fallacy please tell me what you see in me.
The storms are breaking out, thunder shaking now, earth is quaking
now, cries are shrieking out!
The sky shows our pain
The sky shows our pain
The sky shows our pain
The sky shows our pain
The earth’s rumbling stops dead in its tracks.
Water seeps into all of the cracks.
The rain stops pattering on the ground
The storm has ended now there is no sound.
The sky shows our pain
Pathetic fallacy oh you know me more than me.
Pathetic fallacy please tell me what you see in me.
Never mind the din the chaos
Cars doing cat walks on rabid pavements breeding ground for flies and men
Never mind them
simply mind the beggar whose begging bowl is as empty as his stomach of the rickety boy standing next to him.
Maybe we can afford a hunger strike.
Words spoken in anger
Decisions made in haste
Never knowing or realising
Words hurt; time repairs
Those spoken in time
Never speaking of the pain
That broke time
When worlds ceased
To exist.
Even on the nights he heard planes overhead, flying too low
Even the nights he heard sirens, so many sirens coming nearer and
nearer
Even the nights he heard bombing, sometimes in the distance, sometimes nearby
Even the nights he heard his parents arguing about leaving, staying
Even on the nights he heard people running in the street, screaming, crying
Even the nights he heard shooting, going from house to house
Even on those nights he had really bad dreams.
Old buildings slowly vanished
Long lost tales of many a family
Living in just one room,
Systematically torn down
Replaced by concrete
Glass shells, nude cages
Splendid interiors, beautiful facades
Disappear, forever lost,
A skyline blotted with
Ugliness, grey facades
Completely drab, depressing
Oh what have they done?
Destroyed a beautiful city
Shame on them