It's easy enough to read the thoughts of a newcomer:
the one who will come without appointment
remembering circles and maps of temperance.
Down the avenue of swift and invisible nudes
a thin, brittle demon the shade of an autumn leaf
is seeking imperfections.
Our prophets always speak too soon—
you know you want to own a picture of a man
carrying a drum made of human scalps.
Give me a little more time here—
A democracy of strangeness is
a reminder that the work of art presents not an expression
of identity but a problem
‘I prefer the films that put their audience to sleep in the theatre.’
Now –
I'd like a word or two from you.
Sridala Swami is a poet, essayist and photographer. Her first collection of poems, A Reluctant Survivor, was published by the Sahitya Akademi/National Academy of Letters in 2007. Her second collection, Escape Artist, was published by the Aleph Book Company in 2014 and is the first book to appear under the aegis of the Jehangir Sabavala Foundation. It was shortlisted for the inaugural Khushwant Singh Poetry Prize. She writes a poetry workshop column in The Daily O called "The Sideways Door." Swami has also written four books for children, published by Pratham Books. She was the 2011 Charles Wallace writer-in-residence at the University of Stirling, Scotland, and was a Fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, 2013.
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