Kalpita Pathak
Original Work.
PUBLISHED WORKS
Mediterranean Poetry (both poems on one page):
Poetry Life and Times:
- To Purusha, The Little Homunculus in My Hand/Heart
- Teetering Toward Satva
- Anteyesti
- (… As We Know It) Reset: Kritayuga Begins Again
Autumn Sky Daily:
Musing Publication, “Winter Dreams”, Winter 2022 Issue
- The holidays, rolling one
- It’s Getting Dark
Motherbird
Shiver In the Himalayas
Curving down
the mountain, a glacier arcs
over
the skinny road. We hurtle
beneath ancient icicles
dripping sacred water, wintry
summer sun flaring. A bus skids around
the bend toward us, men perched, perilous
on the roof. We pull to the edge,
wheels kissing,
on the verge
of letting go.
The altitude dizzies my head.
I can’t fly, so I fight, staring at the broken
brake lights of car caught
in a tree growing sideways
between us and the twisting
unbound river below. From behind
me, you tug on my curls. Every root
tightens, taut hills rising
on my skin. The cool air parts
as your hand moves to rest
on the seat back by my neck.
– Kalpita Pathak
Matched Set
We don’t need rings
or a piece of paper
to bind us forever.
Why would we,
when the 1970s
sheer pastel Tupperware
cups you brought
from your childhood sit
in the cupboard next
to the corresponding cereal
bowls I brought from mine?
– Kalpita Pathak
Just A Bite
I sprinkle saffron
over the sweet
mango shrikhand.
A small pinch adds
warmth and complexity.
Like the smallest
gesture from you –
a raised eyebrow,
a curled upper
lip, the graze
of your finger along
my knuckles – a little
goes a long way.
– Kalpita Pathak
Vectored
It feels like fire
on your skin. Under
it. Inside. Round
and red and hot as the tip
of a cigarette. You know you
shouldn’t. It’s a bad
idea. Feels so damn satisfying
in the moment
but lousy in the long
run. The question isn’t, Is it good
for me? The question is,
Is it worth it? You ask yourself
that as your fingers slide
down, nails
freshly cut and unfiled
so they are sharp and ready
to scratch that itch. Is it worth it?
They find the mosquito bite and oh yes,
it is. It really is.
– Kalpita Pathak
Go Ahead; It’s Yours
This time, I took the last
cookie. It was a little
stale. I bit into it and
it snapped in two with a sound
like a brittle heart
breaking. I ate both
halves and left the crumbs
for you to clean up.
– Kalpita Pathak
Spring Cleaning: The Photograph of Better Days
I find it, wedged in the corner
between my bed and the wall,
fingerprints and powdery ash
smeared over it. A yellow crescent
of scotch or maybe coffee. My niece
is laughing as I swing her
in the air, her bootied pajamas
terry-soft, like a towel in my palms.
I’m in a swimsuit, having just
done the laps that strengthen
my heart for these rough times.
– Kalpita Pathak
Poetry is not only a dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.
~ Audre Lorde