Poetry
“How do one see the big picture and hold the world’s pain, and at the same time see all of the bright edges of joy? I think that’s at the center of my question.”
~ Ada Limón
Why Reading Poetry Still Matters in the Age of Dank Memes
Just A String Of Words? A good poem demands the dignity to be understood. History repeats in its resounding words. Repetition is a poem's strongest flavors. Poems are words with life because they're current and most urgent with their message to humanity. Yet,...
The Mother Of All Emotions – A Poem by Rachana
- Before you think you can put a finger on love,remember the size of the butter stickin your mother’s pie. Think of how all your lifeyou’ve worked to make her proud,yet glanced up to see if the world noticed. Remember your teenage self,distancing from her...
Still Standing, Still Standing.. – A Poem by Rachana
- The below is a first person account of a village tree who lost the friendship of a small boy to the big charm of the city.. - At day break, I wait for your shrill cries of laughter to pierce my ears..I ponder while I drink the primary...
The Emigrants Anthem: A Poem by Rachana
I Pursuing dreams,First steps Beckoning opportunities,Across oceans Proud sacrifices,Glistening eyes II Anxious freedom,Fertile memories Loyal sentiments,Burning dedication Liberating happiness,Humbled notions III Defending...
If You’re Feeling Like Ending Your Life, Please Read This First
- First, Breathe. And read this small note on real life. Believe it or not, everyone else, just like you are living real lives that are tough, monotonous and boring AF. The duality of terror and love lends life its gravity. Ask yourself your single most pain...
You Know You’re a Mom When.. – A Poem by Rachana
- You've wondered about your fear of death, when the only thing you have always been petrified about is your child digging into that forbidden closet or the bathroom cupboard to find out the secret stash of “things”? You've looked down on the bathroom floor to...
The Many Predicaments of a Single Woman – A Poem by Rachana
She walks as a liberal icon among peoplewho don’t realize their thoughtsare their barbed wires. She’ll march the streets for the disenfranchised,and maybe for those born with ugly faces,but not for them who have the talent for picking the wrong men. What about her?She...
Momentous: A Poem On The Value Of Time
* It’s not the lack of money that makes me cry like my heart is about to burst.You want to know what it is? It’s something you have or don’t more than I do, because there’s no straight finish line here.It ticks away silently mocking our indignant ways...
When Home Is Still Here And We Aren’t – A Poem by Rachana
- Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Unlike refugees, who don't have a home behind or infront of them, we have a home. But, Will it remember all those mornings that the woodpecker made mating calls from its roof?How on sleepless nights,...
ప్రియ శరణార్థీ! నా జీవితం ఇలా నడవనీ – Dear Refugee, My Life Must Go On
The original English version is: Dear Refugee, my life must go on.. This poem appeared originally in The Saaranga Magazine HERE. This poem was translated to Telugu by my mother, Anuradha Nadella, you can explore her full collection of original Telugu poetry HERE....
Why Darkness Can Be a Gift – A Poem By Rachana
As humans, we are wired to create and not consume. And that's why when we create a piece of art, we feel alive. This poem is a tribute to the struggle of creating something out of nothing. - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Years ago, you...
Heartbreaking Plea: A Mother’s Open Letter to Assad Exposing the Horrors of Genocide
The Letter Assad, It is tough for me to think of you as a product of a biochemical blissful event, a distinct moment in time.Should I have sniffed the life out of you the moment I held you in my arms? The pain, the struggle that I went through to bring you...
Dear Refugee, My Life Must Go On.. – A Poem By Rachana
The translated Telugu version: ప్రియ శరణార్థీ! నా జీవితం ఇలా నడవనీ.. This poem appeared originally in The Saaranga Magazine HERE. - It's not too unthinkable,sipping licorice tea in my cardigan,And daydreaming of a life of civil liberties. Out of...
Momentous: A Poem On The Value Of Time
- It's not the lack of money that makes me cry like my heart is about to burst.You want to know what it is? It's something you have or don't more than I do, because there's no straight finish line here.It ticks away silently mocking our indignant ways...
Perceiving My Anthropology
- I don't know what moves him.I remember the day he came back home tohide his red eyes behind that newspaperafter he lit his mother's pyre.This is the man, the brunt of all my emotions,whose lifetime fits in this poem. It's mostly the appalling nature of...
To My Estranged One
- Ok, I admit; I still have that shameful longingness.When you gathered everything else up and left me to myself, And, when the war of words ended, It was clear that the love between us had begun to show cracks.It would never happen to me, was the conviction I...
Yours Singularly – A Love Poem By Rachana
Want to listen to me read it? - Always close by my side, he mocks me.Calling the lack of endearment around me,self-inflicted.Late in the afternoon, at work,“This team of people around you just need you tobreak their bread”, he mulls. At the bar,he demands to...
Still Standing, Still Standing..
- The below is a first person account of a village tree who lost the friendship of a small boy to the big charm of the city.. - At day break, I wait for your shrill cries of laughter to pierce my ears..I ponder while I drink the primary cocktail,a...