“against the length of the light" by Debasis Mukhopadhyay
FEBRUARY 2025
against the length of the light
after Miguel Hernández's la boca – the mouth
raindrops hitting
the old tape of Auschwitz
slack with sleep
just rosy la boca
thicket of bodies
flared
come closer war by war
enough to live la boca
shadows
lead out of
blue
like starfish
our stories are round
unclasping every breath la boca
how many buried mouths
mouthless
we dig up
14
you are to whisper
to azaleas
you are to swagger
in the nights
whittled into the map of Gaza
you are to toss
in the womb
an ensemble la boca
---
10/28/2024
Debasis Mukhopadhyay is the author of the chapbook kyrie eleison or all robins taken out of context. His poems have appeared in International Times, Stride, The Honest Ulsterman, Posit, Erbacce, I am not a silent poet, and many other notable publications. Debasis lives & writes in Montreal, Canada. Follow him at https://debasismukhopadhyay.com/.
