Month: June 2020

As I began working on Hibiscus, I advised my co-editors, Anu Majumdar and Dustin Pickering, to send me a few verses on the chosen theme. To maintain ethical standards, I didn’t publish them, nor did I include mine in this collection. But I liked their works and discussed them in the introductory passage. In the last…

All great poets succeed in creating euphony; Sanjeev Sethi isn’t an exception. He is an exceptional wordsmith with a profound consciousness of letters. The following poem opens with the title itself: a practice Sethi commonly employs, and integral to the stylistics of his works. Inducement | Sanjeev Sethi Instructions are installedin our core:there’s no toggle…

A COVID TALE | ANJU MAKHIJA Once, in time of the deadly virus,humans disappeared from Mumbai,animals appeared out of nowhere! The puffed-up peacock danced,the la-di-da hornbill claimed his kingdom,flamingos spread like cherry blossoms… reminding of those dayswhen Mumbai was Bombay,and we played on the streets. While the present stifles, the past delights.Now past is becoming…

Peace Prayer | Michael R. Burch Be calm.Be still.Be silent, content. Be one with the buffalo cropping the grass to a safer height. Seek the composure of the great depths, barely moved by exterior storms. Lift your face to the dawning light; feel how it warms.And be calm.Be still.Be silent, content. Source: Hibiscus: poems that heal…

Morphie | Michele Mekel Claws. Paws. Whiskers. Purrs.He destroyed the furniture.But he healed my heart. Source: Hibiscus: poems that heal and empowerEdited by Kiriti Sengupta | Anu Majumdar | Dustin PickeringHawakal May 2020 Hen shack? He digs the earth, collects abundant of her flesh, and smears it across the frame of straws and bamboo sticks. He lives…