I’ve grown up under punctured roofs
that peek into the sullen skies.
I braid cracked dreams
into a wreath of dinged hopes
And listen to the Florence Welch
painting allegories with my ink stained muses.
So tell me,
How do you tailor balladry
Out of a war whoop?
Or write paens
about massacres?
Do you alchemise
your distraught existence
with riots and rebellions?
Or do you mask your sins
with the ragged edges of your countless deceits
And walk like a good samaritan?
Or, do you make art
by looking for shards of yourself
peer through the broken window of your
house like borrowed sun rays
dropped like those cigarette ashes
lying in a fractured clay jar?
Tell me how you do it?
Tell me how do you make wounds
look like diamonds in a garland
Tell me how do you make art that makes broken look beautiful
And misery look mystical?
Narhitya Nawal is graduate in English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia. She believes poetry is to remind us of the elemental value of the tiny little intricacies of life, including ourselves. She’s also the co-founder of Adira, a nonprofit based out of Allahabad.
Featured image: Saad Chaudhry / Unsplash