#113: greetings from Alipore
Trunks of secret words, sent from calcutta
Art by Camille Pissarro
Detaining a Poem by Dareen Tatour
Translated from the Arabic by Andrew Lever
One day,
they stopped me,
shackled me,
tied up my body, my soul,
my everything…
Then they said: search her,
we’ll find a terrorist within her!
They turned my heart inside out—
my eyes as well,
rummaged through even my feelings.
From my eyes they drew a pulse of inspiration;
from my heart, the ability to sketch out meanings.
Then they said: beware!
She’s hiding weapons deep in her pockets.
Search her!
Root out the explosives.
And so they searched me…
Finally, they said, accusing me:
We found nothing
in her pockets except letters.
We found nothing except for a poem.
Verses from some interesting poems I read this week:
"Of all your old photographs, I wanted
this one for its becoming. I think
you were starting
to turn your head a little,
your eyes looking slightly to the side.
Was this the beginning of leaving?"
-from Old Photographs by Gabeba Baderoon" Stories run through my body
or sit purring in my lap.
So many they take my breath away,
buzzing, boiling, humming.
Uncalled they come to me,
and told, they still won’t leave me.
The ones that come down through the trees
weave and unweave themselves,
and knit me up and wind me round
until the sea drives them away."
-from The Teller of Tales by Gabriela Mistral
Translated from the Spanish by Ursula K. Le Guin"When you come to me, unbidden,
Beckoning me
To long-ago rooms,
Where memories lie.
Offering me, as to a child, an attic,
Gatherings of days too few.
Baubles of stolen kisses.
Trinkets of borrowed loves.
Trunks of secret words,
I CRY."
-When You Come by Maya Angelou
Recommended Listening:
M. NourbeSe Philip reads "Discourse on the Logic of Language" (I found this on Dhruvi's edition of This is my newsletter and it blew my mind)
Before his death, Lou Reed made this playlist of 27 songs (via Austin Kleon's incredible weekly newsletter)
Links of the Week:
I want to take the “Fresh Prince” Throne & Sleepover at his Bel-Air Mansion
Perfectly imperfect women: the playful illustrations of Lucia Lenders
World Make Way: New Poems Inspired By Art From The Metropolitan Museum Of Art (Added this incredible sounding book to my Christmas wishlist)
Overlooked (A brilliant new series on VICE by Sneha Antony. Must watch!)
Ryan Holiday shares ten tips for finding stillness in turbulent times
Sign up for a penpal at Chitthi Exchange. Here is the form for Round 3 (The form closes on September 30th, 11.59pm IST)
This is my newsletter #9: Dhruvi Modi
This week’s surprise curator for This is my newsletter is Dhruvi Modi, a poet and friend who has put together a great newsletter where she talks about her relationship with food, dancing and being home during the pandemic. She also shares some fantastic poems, graphic essays and other things that piqued her interest 🤓
Check out the full newsletter here 💌
New on the Website:
Art by Neha Khaitan
"Each year we extend, foot-by-crawling-foot,
While their skyscrapers prod the clouds
Our tarpaulin roofs expand onto what they must call the beach
Not the kind of coast they could powerwalk on
Just enough sand for our nets to rest
Between bouts of catching their dinners
Which they will pick at along with dwarfed carrots
Baby potatoes, diced mushrooms
And all things small."
-from Slum Roots at Cuffe Parade, Mumbai by Pervin Saket
"Six months of drowning in constancy- eating the same food, sleeping in the same bed, wasting the same hours- I am looking back at photos I took, when I first moved to Bombay- about two years from now, and a note in my diary"
-Megha Singha on her quarantine series
"Nobody writes with an assuring sense of tenderness as Vijay Nambisan did. I recently spent an afternoon with the late Nambisan reading his posthumous collection These Were My Homes by Speaking Tiger. It made for a unique set of poems, some full of ironical observations about life, others flavoured with a taste of longing, on death, grandparents, alcohol and ducks."
Read 5 of my favorite poems from These Were My Homes by Vijay Nambisan here.
As you may have noticed, I’m going to try out Substack instead of TinyLetter for a couple of weeks to see how it feels. Feel free to write in with feedback to thealiporepost@gmail.com :)
Also, I invite you all to be a part of #TAPTOBER2020 this October. Let’s make art together and have fun playing with ideas and colours and styles! Follow the challenge on Instagram through October here.
Here are the prompts:
The next newsletter will be sent from my room in Alipore, where I came up with The Alipore Post in February, 2015. Send me movie/poetry/music recommendations for my self-quarantine week.
Here’s the magnificent sunset this evening from my balcony:
Thanks for reading, and have a great week ahead!
Rohini
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