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The Imperfect Present

Maze by Kushal Poddar (India, 46)

9/30/2023

 
The day I name the way
a maze
it begins to own a bit of me,
and I lay
my claim on a patch of its length
that circles
an overgrown shrub, the time-eaten wall
and a shameless body of muddy water.

At one point
I feel the desire to leave the maze
drying, dying.
From hollow in my abdomen
an eclipse of moths swirl out.

The sun relents;
crickets croon some troubled Sinéad.
On a rock I sit.
Again I walk, stumble upon a upturned
perambulator.
Shadows ebb and tide once more.
I recall the time
my body used to grow and the point
it stopped.





Kushal Poddar is the author of 'Postmarked Quarantine' has eight books to his credit. He is a journalist, father, and the editor of 'Words Surfacing’. His works have been translated into twelve languages, published across the globe. 
Twitter- https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe

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