Weekly edition #1
Living Alone by Elizabeth Burk
is easy, no one
telling you what to do
or when to do it
no one questioning why
you’re eating M&Ms
so early in the morning
or peeling a potato
with your fingernails
instead of a knife
no one watching you forget
to screw the top back
on the coffee maker
or put the glass pot under
the spout, spraying coffee
all over the kitchen
no one asking what’s for dinner
as you walk through the door
no one there
to see that living alone
is as easy
as landing on the moon
every night, looking
to claim your place
on an empty planet
with every tentative
weightless
step you take.
Art by Regina Rivas
Other poems I enjoyed this week: (Read the full poem in the link)
Remembering You, Anthony Bourdain, at the Elementary School Talent Show by Alexandra Umlas Most of these kids have yet to try sushi,
haven’t left the country to taste the world,
still gravitate toward boxed macaroni
and cheese, but someday they might turn
on the TV to see you eat some strange food,
and witness the uneasy thrill of trying,
trying, trying something new.
I’m Going to Start Living Like a Mystic by Edward Hirsch
I will walk home alone with the deep alone,
a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.
The Sticks by Todd Boss
my mother still mutters whenever
she remembers where we lived,
reciting then her one life sentence
of overlush underbrush, neighbor trash,
shoddy farms and fallen fences
The End by Arkaye Kierulf
It’s begun: The papers
print the same stories over and over, and have you checked
the obituaries? Already, nobody remembers
how their first kiss went.
Free Dirt by Henri Cole
I like invisibleness,
except in the moon’s strong,
broad rays. Some nights,
I ask her paleness, Will I be okay?
Recommended Listening:
Django/ Misty - Dorothy Ashby Room to Dream by David Lynch, Kristine McKenna Oh Lonesome Me - M Ward Ft. Lucinda Willams Firecracker - Charlie Fink Swept Inside - Future Islands Masterpiece - Big Thief (solo)
Links of the Week:
The secret LSD-fuelled CIA experiment that inspired Stranger Things
Aliya Ghare Talks About The Confluence of Activism and Aesthetics In Her Illustrations
See the collection Ikea designed for tiny apartments–by studying Mars
Khichdi (Kitchari) brings together 846 photographs of India, and its people, taken over ten years
In 2019, people are expected to spend 170.6 minutes each day online, and slightly less time watching TV. Ursula K. Le Guin on the Magic of Real Human Conversation How to work alone
Hello, I just got my own place, and I'm going through a plethora of new emotions and experiences on a minute-to-minute basis which I want to process in its entirety without getting overwhelming. It's a beautiful mind space to be in, and I don't want to lose it by overdosing on the Internet beyond a point. So I've decided to try out a new format of a weekly edition of The Alipore Post, which potentially feels like a much more meaningful for both the reader and me. I hope you enjoy it. If you feel like sharing your feedback/links/music/poem/saying hello, hit Reply.
Until next Sunday... -Rohini