To the dolt who cried a thousand tears, Your present cheery and contention is worthy of embrace. Oh how many flowers bloomed Looking at your smile reach for the ends of those hazel eyes, you carry beautifully with pride. Your flushed cheeks lit an entire streetscape, rue Montorgueil. Your eyelashes have carried corpses. Your ears, grams of timid symphonies. Your lips, the weight of shrivelled lies. How many coral roses shall be shot out of an airgun To celebrate your revolt? A revolution you strike against the everyday ordinary violence.
Sit upright. It has all just begun.
Shristi Sainani, born in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1995, is an Indian national brought up in the West African country of Nigeria. OCHRE is her first publication showcasing her work in poetry. She graduated as an architectural designer from the University of Sydney and currently pursues her Masters in Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne. She lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.