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Look at me! 

See how I sprain 

My neck, my waist 

As I twist in your light!

Spare once a glance

At my eager face

Its lilting passion

The want, the pursuit it betrays!

I'm larger

Wider

Wombing much more light,

But this distance

This sweet, arching distance

Twains us like a mirror

You appear on the left, me right

You larger, me diminutive!

I'm rendered 

With nothing but desire

In the grandness of this illusion

What is to be done

Than seek you, O moon, my?

Deign to bend

An inch, a small light year

Let, if nothing,

Your shadow touch my lips

And some fruition occur

To this twig-tailed rhapsody!!

-

Chandni Girija

Jan 31, 2017

Breathless

Before the bubbles rise in my head

Before the froth starts slipping from my eyes

Before my tongue begins arcing ingratiatingly to your ghost tongue

Let me take my leave

Let me run

Go!

Before my madness pins us both to the bed and buries us there

- 

Chandni Girija

Bending Down to the Pole Star

Where do I go from here?

I am left now

With this lapping ocean

Trapped inside of me

The rose petals shed

Now from my glasses

I am dry-eyed, chap-lipped

All I need

Is one dry seed in dry soil

A dry seed in dry soil

That will prick

A tiny hole on my numbness

Start a little trickle

So that as I brave new steps

The earth doesn't flood

And I do not drown

- Chandni Girija

Jan 26, 2022

New Year Resolutions

Twelve stones to keep

Each a reminder 

Each a boon

But I have only ten fingers

Each irreplaceable

I keep one on each fingernail

Five on the left convered

What now, with the rest?!

I toss the seven stones

In my right hand

I catch only three

Whom now, was I fooling?!

Do I go about the day

Or sit here, a stoned fool?!

I swallow a couple

Oh, oh no!

They drag down my pit!

What now, with the last one?

I see a passing dog.

When it yelps,

I know I have

Bloody figured it out!

-

Chandni Girija

Jan 25, 2022