The well dries in May
When the voice of the mocking bird echoes
in every drop of indigo choking at the tip
of a pen, you know the universe is testing
a writer’s patience like the noose of humidity
teasing the owner of street tea stalls in the month
of May in Bombay. Mumbai or Bombay, who cares–
the city at least has a name unlike the scribbling
resembling the coarseness of horse’s tail sprawled
across the notebook, hoping for eloquence to adopt it.
I didn’t choose this way.
But then when has a writer
known what appears on the page.
Sweta Srivastava Vikram (www.swetavikram.com) is a multi-genre writer and marketing professional living in New York City. She is the author of two upcoming chapbooks of poetry: “Kaleidoscope: An Asian Journey of Colors” (Modern History Press) and "Because all is not lost: Verse on Grief" (Loving Healing Press). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals, online publications, and anthologies across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, New Zealand, and Philippines. Sweta has attended several writing residencies and writing workshops in the United States, Portugal, and Ireland. She was recently offered a part scholarship for a workshop with the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation in San Francisco. She is a graduate of Columbia University.
When the voice of the mocking bird echoes
in every drop of indigo choking at the tip
of a pen, you know the universe is testing
a writer’s patience like the noose of humidity
teasing the owner of street tea stalls in the month
of May in Bombay. Mumbai or Bombay, who cares–
the city at least has a name unlike the scribbling
resembling the coarseness of horse’s tail sprawled
across the notebook, hoping for eloquence to adopt it.
I didn’t choose this way.
But then when has a writer
known what appears on the page.
Sweta Srivastava Vikram (www.swetavikram.com) is a multi-genre writer and marketing professional living in New York City. She is the author of two upcoming chapbooks of poetry: “Kaleidoscope: An Asian Journey of Colors” (Modern History Press) and "Because all is not lost: Verse on Grief" (Loving Healing Press). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals, online publications, and anthologies across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, New Zealand, and Philippines. Sweta has attended several writing residencies and writing workshops in the United States, Portugal, and Ireland. She was recently offered a part scholarship for a workshop with the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation in San Francisco. She is a graduate of Columbia University.
