Bilingual Poet

Mandira Pattnaik

When you migrated from the rusty corners
wedged between lofty citadels
of a mighty city

Your journey was paved by
massacres
and whirlpools of slim chances.
At the destination

A scavenger,
you became,
of torn histories.

Unloading muddied memories
seeped in sweat and stains of blood
on the looms,

You weaved carpets
for a fluorescent dawn.
Hozzoor, w a alaykumu s-salam

May peace be with you.

Words still intertwine though
the poem is now a frothy pail, of
unknown propinquity.

You braid your mother’s hair
in turquoise threads,
wefts of sugar palms

warps of coated hate,
dividing your selfhood in two
but never translate.

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Born in India, Mandira Pattnaik writes poetry and short fiction. Her poems have appeared in, or are shortly due in Eclectica Magazine, Kissing Dynamite, Panoplyzine, Prime Number Magazine, Feral Poetry and Not Very Quiet, among other places. She tweets @MandiraPattnaik.

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