By Sneha Narayan, ISC Batch of 2024
JUNK SPACE
an empty street is no place /
for anything.
a crowded one isn't one.
where are the people? look /
upon them, where they go /
their pretense is of another.
face embossed with guilt /
heart troubled with hope.
where are the safes?
they hold forgotten things.
no — not today. there are five six seven locks
and none of them are open today. not for you.
watch that lamp. it only flickers
when your eyes flutter shut.
UTILITY
alight! says the flame
and so does the train
both are burdensome, and
so is utility the face of burden.
where are the spaces
that belong to the people?
where they begin, the space ends.
empty, empty.
you end where i begin.
empty.
somebody has painted a body
and you are covered in blood.
somebody has dripped on the porch
and the rain has washed it out.
your only proof is you.
your only comparison is you.
but how do you compare indefinition?
you cannot trust your hands to
do what they must.
betrayal is good. there is a heart in this lonely space.
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