Weekly Edition #35
For today's edition, I thought I'd share some of the recently published poems on The Alipore Post website, paired with complementary artworks sent in by incredibly talented Indian artists:
(Click the links to read the full poem)
Art by Janhavi Sharma
"When you come to bed I’m wide awake and you’re tired.
I remember something I wrote for you
but it’s too late and now is not the moment.
There isn’t any sex, and everything is just wrong
in this never-ending night of small disasters.
Maybe Mercury is in retrograde.
Maybe it’s the moon
doing something strange with the tides.
But.
Loving is like this.
Really, real love is."
-from Winter Solstice by Riddhi Dastidar
Art by Ruddhi Vichare
"The compartments are dustier than ever, at this hour.
Greasy sandal prints, tail ends of
twisty rice chips, and a plum hairclip
lie exhausted across the seats.
The rosary-and-sukha-bhehl lady turns her face
away from the window, and for a small second
I see the bright, (perhaps) Goan
face that must have cracked it's share of hearts
a dozen years ago.
A bucket of suburban night tumbles in
through the windows,
wrapping the air in a scent of onions, green chillies, aamchur,
tossed carelessly together."
-from Pudhil Station: Santacruz by Sohini Das Gupta
Art by Annushka Hardikar
"Hurt someone every day. Accept the fluster
Of lost friendships, memories you now repent.
The art of hurting isn’t hard to master.
Then practise hurting further, and faster:
Tie the strings taut as a moment,
Then dip them in the dye of disaster."
-from One Art by Dhruvi Modi
Art by Saloni Dhawan
"Emergency contacts thrice-folded in vanity box
Flowers, once alive
Food is Medicine Vol. 8.1
Four ill-fitting kurtas
Glass bodied Lakshmi, goddess of wealth
Grocery list on a dusty post it
Half an aspirin."
-from Mother's Legacy by Preeti Vangani
Photo by Gazal Agarwal
"Percolating on the almirah
Rusty ochre grill in the verandah
Pink paper surface
of the neighbour's bougainvillea
In a creased petticoat
Gathering sorrow
are poems
of your father's malice
and
mother's disquiet."
Art by Omkar Choudhury
"The tongue finds bitter
what is sweet for the body
Neem water reaches where
his fingertips can't and
a medical orgasm explodes."
-Bathing in Neem Water by Rajashree Gandhi
More on the website...
Poetry:
Art:
This comic by deadtheduck sums up the current weather in Bangalore. Sigh.
Recommended Listening:
Let Her Dance - Bobby Fuller Four
Souvenirs souvenirs - Johnny Hallyday
Links of the Week:
The 20 Best Feminist Movies of All Time + How to Raise a Feminist Son
The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles
Current Conservation + Two Million Wondrous Nature Illustrations Put Online by The Biodiversity Heritage Library
Video: The Magic of Making Machines
Interview of the Week:
Prateek Kuhad opened up to me about poetry, the role of art in his life, the idea of 'home' in one of my favourite interviews till date. You can read the full interview on the website here.
Art by Prateek Kuhad
If you wish to submit poems, comics, photo series or artworks that you'd like to see up there, do share them at thealiporepost@gmail.com. Thank you.