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Poetry

Still Breathing

Barnali Ray Shukla Still breathing Her home wears nothing but a silence that waits--where noir feels warm like a quilt of breaths, as it begins to reel in a tequila sunset, unsure of the strange fingerprints in her voice, ‘admit two’ she hears, last breaths of life, air or lyrics. The newborn gurgles in the next room, and her mother in another, they are there for her, a little distant, and she… grateful for a death so beautiful that comes on time, as promised. Untouched by loved ones behind masks, not the one they were born with, the one they need to keep her away.

By Barnali Ray Shukla

Still Breathing

Her home wears nothing but a silence that waits--where noir feels warm like a quilt of breaths, as it begins to reel in a tequila sunset, unsure of the strange fingerprints in her voice, ‘admit two’ she hears, last breaths of life, air or lyrics. The newborn gurgles in the next room, and her mother in another, they are there for her, a little distant, and she… grateful for a death so beautiful that comes on time, as promised. Untouched by loved ones behind masks, not the one they were born with, the one they need to keep her away.

Barnali Ray Shukla is a writer, filmmaker & poet. Her writing has featured in Sunflower Collective, OutOfPrint, Kitaab.org, OUTCAST, Indian Ruminations, Vayavya, Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry II, indianculturalforum.in, Madras Courier, Bengaluru Review, Voice& Verse (HK) UCityReview (USA) and A Portrait in Blues (UK). She has a feature film to her credit as writer director, 2 documentaries, 2 short films & a book of poems, Apostrophe. Her short fiction & non fiction feature in print anthologies by Amaryllis, Speaking Tiger Books. She is shooting her third documentary & scripting a movie.She lives in Mumbai with her plants, books & a husband.

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