Poetry

UN photo

By

Kashiana Singh

A binary collective

The girl in the red coat

I dare you to let me live again

I dare you to heal your amnesia

I dare you to look into my tears

I dare you to bear being alone

I dare you to die without regret

I dare you to cross the last port of entry

disappearing into windowless tents

I watch, your lethal aides come and go

As caravans move excruciatingly slow

tent to tent, growing miles of dissent

I huddle under my red coat

and hope, the specter would keep away

souls astray, soles of my shoes, in fray

collective phobia, anger serves as our moat

puppet like from camp to camp

plunged from home to home, city to city

reclaiming my words, mapping a geometry

hardened wails are key to survival as a tramp

I dare you to let me live again

I dare you to heal your amnesia

I dare you to look into my tears

I dare you to bear being alone

I dare you to die without regret

I dare you to cross the last port of entry

Just another weekend

it’s a weekend

a diverse neighbourhood

a predictable Saturday evening

celebrating

rest, togetherness, gaiety

a typical nondescript night

suddenly shaken, by falling shreds of glass

like confetti

spectacular explosions

heard across the river

not fireworks, not fireworks

a fearless declaration

of dread

by the faceless nameless shameless

shoppers at the Mall

going about business

coupon redemption

prosaic weekend

unexpectedly awakened

to religious brandishing

Satan

had come shopping too

leaving behind

some ravaged

cutting -edge

conceited reminders

all are equal, wounded

in the grasp of the Shaitan

another city by the lake

ready to sail

just barely eliminated

the chance of being

added to statistics

of this weekend’s

incident debriefs

meanwhile,

at

the headquarters of hell

infernos were ablaze

luminous and predatory

it’s a weekend

disappointed, i

mute my noises

and pack hardboiled eggs

for lunch tomorrow

another week before

another weekend

in between there will be more

Kashiana Singh

Kashiana Singh, 51, is a management professional by job classification and a work practitioner by personal preference. Kashiana’s TEDx talk was dedicated to the topic – Work as Worship. She has deepened my belief in “Work is Worship” over nearly three decades of pursuing a regular mainstream “job”.  Kashiana used her fascination for writing and teaching as life hacks to find the hidden moments of worship in daily tasks, chores, and duties. Her poetry collection, Shelling Peanuts and Stringing Words is written as a participant and an observer. She dips into very vulnerable and personal contexts but also explores the shifting tectonic plates of the world around her.

She is from India, now lives in Chicago and bridges the miles by regularly etches her thoughts on her poetry blog – kashiana.wordpress.com