A Table, Two Poems by Abha Iyengar
What we have is
a table.
Two poems.
And a conversation
that neither of us began.
But as we speak the lines
we say everything in between.
We spill
over the distance of the table
that separates us.
We move our legs back
under and behind our chairs,
scared of touching
that which lies
beneath the lines,
knowing that we will overflow
over and above
the table,
knocking it over
sometime, anytime,
even as our bodies strain
to keep back
all that drives us forward:
two poems
and a conversation.
Abha Iyengar’s work has appeared in Insolent Rudder, Tattoo Highway, Dead Drunk Dublin, Danse Macabre, The Fabulist and others. She was a Kota Press Poetry Anthology Contest winner. She received a Story South Million Writers Award nomination for her story, “The High Stool,” and a Special Jury Prize in Patras, Greece for her poem-film, “Parwaaz.” She also writes articles on spirituality and travel and is the recipient of Lavanya Sankaran Writing Fellowship for 2009-2010. Her book of poems, "Yearnings" has been published recently, details of which may be found on her website at http://www.abhaiyengar.com.
Aural Prejudice by Peter Handley
If I have a judgement,
valuation or prejudice
about you, it's not the colour
of your skin I regard.
I listen to your
voice, its cadence
and intonation, the way
the v o w e l s form
around your thoughts.
Wherever you come from, eh?
Because that, that, in any language
reveals you, to me. That instrument
tells me where you are from
and I don't mean geographically.
Those notes made
by your instrument
that has its roots
in the core of your being
tell me of your humanity,
tell me how we'll get
along.
Peter Handley was born in an English village towards the end of the 1960s. He is a poet, actor, writer, director mostly living in Mumbai and working in the Indian cinema industry. He has an interest in the shifting of human consciousness through the sharing of stories told in many forms.
Happenings by Ananya Guha
It is morning,
infantile as I brood
over possible misgivings.
A car whistles past, traffic
seems meaningful. One
could cross the roads
blindfolded. But as birds
chatter and smoke rises,
remembrances gather.
The landscape is unchanging:
children getting ready for school,
the milkman has a tale to tell,
woes manifold;
mornings lie supine in truths
to create myriad images
of happenings.
Ananya Guha has 4 collections of poetry in English. His poems have appeared in various anthologies, the latest being in the collection of poetry from North East India titled Dancing Earth (Penguin India). You can also find his works in Glasgow Review, Osprey Journal, Other Voices Poetry, Kritya, Muse India, among others.
What we have is
a table.
Two poems.
And a conversation
that neither of us began.
But as we speak the lines
we say everything in between.
We spill
over the distance of the table
that separates us.
We move our legs back
under and behind our chairs,
scared of touching
that which lies
beneath the lines,
knowing that we will overflow
over and above
the table,
knocking it over
sometime, anytime,
even as our bodies strain
to keep back
all that drives us forward:
two poems
and a conversation.
Abha Iyengar’s work has appeared in Insolent Rudder, Tattoo Highway, Dead Drunk Dublin, Danse Macabre, The Fabulist and others. She was a Kota Press Poetry Anthology Contest winner. She received a Story South Million Writers Award nomination for her story, “The High Stool,” and a Special Jury Prize in Patras, Greece for her poem-film, “Parwaaz.” She also writes articles on spirituality and travel and is the recipient of Lavanya Sankaran Writing Fellowship for 2009-2010. Her book of poems, "Yearnings" has been published recently, details of which may be found on her website at http://www.abhaiyengar.com.Aural Prejudice by Peter Handley
If I have a judgement,
valuation or prejudice
about you, it's not the colour
of your skin I regard.
I listen to your
voice, its cadence
and intonation, the way
the v o w e l s form
around your thoughts.
Wherever you come from, eh?
Because that, that, in any language
reveals you, to me. That instrument
tells me where you are from
and I don't mean geographically.
Those notes made
by your instrument
that has its roots
in the core of your being
tell me of your humanity,
tell me how we'll get
along.
Peter Handley was born in an English village towards the end of the 1960s. He is a poet, actor, writer, director mostly living in Mumbai and working in the Indian cinema industry. He has an interest in the shifting of human consciousness through the sharing of stories told in many forms.
Happenings by Ananya Guha
It is morning,
infantile as I brood
over possible misgivings.
A car whistles past, traffic
seems meaningful. One
could cross the roads
blindfolded. But as birds
chatter and smoke rises,
remembrances gather.
The landscape is unchanging:
children getting ready for school,
the milkman has a tale to tell,
woes manifold;
mornings lie supine in truths
to create myriad images
of happenings.
Ananya Guha has 4 collections of poetry in English. His poems have appeared in various anthologies, the latest being in the collection of poetry from North East India titled Dancing Earth (Penguin India). You can also find his works in Glasgow Review, Osprey Journal, Other Voices Poetry, Kritya, Muse India, among others.
