29 April, 2020: Prerana Kumar

Durham, United Kingdom


PICNIC IN THE PANDEMIC 

we gather like    whole
shining marbles tumbling from
children's hands into    each other
without intention    or    rules or    god 

offer   the scant  tenderness
of salt-water and the   dirtiest chords
scoured from our    exposed  grating  throats 

the bird-wing thrumming of an    open wound
sewing slowly  shut 

and who are we to deny  ourselves
waiting tangerines that          burst on touch
or   crushed crisps whose salt         sticks
to the roof of our         tired mouths      or
the wet undressing of   every ghost
from our past ? 

a revolt so simple      as a willed
accident    or   guiding three   pairs of palms
press   into the little soft   button
at the nape of   your neck 

letting them      witness
the triggered opening lotus   of     your face
each   ripe petal     unfurling 

the    tight  unfingered    joy
​underneath 

​

Prerana Kumar is is an Indian spoken word artist doing her MA in English at Durham University.  Her poetry explores home, belonging, pleasure, and loss by interweaving the personal and the political.