Richard Siken’s writing has become a touchstone, especially the book I recently devoured- The War of the Foxes. Because of the way he blurs certainty and leaves the reader suspended between clarity and disarray. His poems often weave images of intimacy with undercurrents of danger, collapsing the distinct between love and violence, desire and loss.
Inspired by him, I tried to write something, titled- Being and the Blur.
I took a deep breath and let it out.
What was exhaled was no more a breath,
instead an air that mixes with the atmosphere.
We call it life.
Something you give out is life.
Something you have to hold in is death.
And if you hold everything in,
maybe you are dead.
I too took my anger and created a demon out of it.
I call that demon an angel.
You look too long and the lines begin to blur.
What is a 'land' and what is a 'sea'?
Do you see?
The see glass is mint green.
Green- the color of jealousy they say.
I see trees of green and not an ounce of hatred.
We won't lead anywhere in a world like this.
~Purnima