Illustrator Baidehi Roy visually interprets three poems written by Rohini Kejriwal:
Gentle
I am learning from daily disappointments.
Burnt rice,
Trees emerging from potatoes,
Piles of unwashed clothes,
Gathering that funky wet dog smell.
I ask myself the difference between being gentle and fragile.
I do not find what I’m looking for.
I ask the seeds I planted four days ago,
They tell me to be patient.
I ask my mother for an answer,
She cannot comprehend the question.
I ask my journal to show me the way,
I write VULNERABILITY 25 times on the page.
I try to be fragile.
I shatter inside.
I try to be gentle.
It feels alright.
Crown Shyness
I am learning to live
without your touch
the way many species of trees do.
I look up
at the leaves that talk
almost touching,
but not quite.
I stare, awestruck
at nature’s jigsaw puzzle
the perfect distance
maintained between the pieces.
Perhaps a gentle breeze
will sway me towards you,
the canopy shall come alive
for two lovers to gently touch,
momentarily.
Yesterday
The timeline of the world will be divided
Into the Present and the Future
For practicality’s sake.
You will be given 24 hours
To go back into the Past,
Tell your loved ones you love them,
Visit your childhood home.
Speak to your dead father,
Tell him everything you never did,
Say goodbye to yourself,
Before the new world begins.
When the stars realign,
The clock will be reset.
Yesterday, a lost notion
From a distant universe.