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3 farewell poems by Jayant Kashyap

  • Editor
  • Sep 27, 2023
  • 1 min read

River Haiku


i.


a heron

surfacing—

the river waiting


ii.


the heron’s—

the river’s— wings

embracing the wind


iii.


fish wading

boatlike—

their mouths gaping


iv.


the heron—

the fish— unbothered

the sun scorching


v.


the surface plastic

preying—

the river choking


vi.


the river bleached

the river breathing

the river blue


vii.


the river bleeding

the river draped

with oil


viii.


the river

remembers

things


ix.


floating

chips of ice—

river water warm


x.


river—

in

impermanence


xi.


river—

the site of

permanence



Notes on Islands


we were little

bodies— floating /

unmapped


for birds

an island means

peace


for a river—

often the burden

of peace


an island

can be a shore /

shelter / country


a synonym

for calm, for

tranquillity


a place,

at current rate,

meant to vanish


a place

in need of

saving


an island is a sun

setting— after a million

years of days



Farewell / Elegy


we were islands — bodies

floating, endlessly, unmapped


— when we met

that night; you’d wanted


to understand how the water touches

quietly the horizons—


all we’d wanted together

was to get in a boat,


move to hold the sun —

warm, even in winter — in our hands;


we had wanted

to share what we’d see


there on the other side—


______________

Jayant Kashyap (he/him/ecopoet) is the author of two pamphlets and a zine, Water (Skear Zines, 2021). His work has been presented at COP26, the United Nations Climate Conference 2021, and won the Wells Festival of Literature’s Young Poets’ International Competition in 2021.


 
 
 

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