To Those Who Walk Away and other poems

When you walk away / you become / ineluctably long, / like the longing, shadowing / the heart only to dissipate and merge, become / one / with the setting sun, throwing up dark.

Drowning in Diet Malts with Druig and other poems

In the desert, / in the midday time, / he would meet me at the celestial soda counter on Tuesdays, / wearing bovver boots and a leather choker studded with sardonyx / — the exosuit of a peregrine.

Gaza Poems and Aphorisms by Yahia Lababidi

A martyr is a witness / who testifies and gives evidence / only in a Higher Court / They must suffer death / because otherworldly truth / requires sacrifice of this life.

Holding Your Hands and other poems

In the glow of your smiling eyes. / We will both leisurely row the boat, / And once the night bends into dawn / And into its seamless echo of purity

The Song of Razia Sultana and other poems

Alone and weary among the glitz of stars, / Stars so noble! yet none for me. / I sit alone in my obscure nook / And covet the moths so blithe and glee.

Earth Stride and other poems by Anu Majumdar

Everything waits/in the shelter of the heart, / Prayers shaking / through wild thoroughfares — / utterly bereft, / yet fragrant.

The Song of Reclusion and other poems

Four poems by a writer and book editor based in Bangalore, India, who has spent her entire adult life in the pursuit of stories

I’ve Been Inviting Grief To Tea Lately and other poems

Six poems that navigate loss, sorrow and resilience with lyrical elegance, offering solace and introspection

The Girl in the Mirror is Stronger than I and other poems

Three poems explore the depths of emotional turmoil and self-reflection; they grapple with longing, the complexities of relationships, and a sense of vulnerability

Impressions and other poems by Preetha Sreekumar Menon

Preetha Sreekumar Menon’s poems weave together themes of silence, change, hope, loss, and self-discovery

The Sun Has No Daughter and other poems

Reflections on loss and love, and societal tragedies, Bhaumik’s poems masterfully combine the mundane with the profound, inviting readers to contemplate the transient nature of existence and the beauty found in ordinary moments.

The Wrong Rain: An anti-war poem by Jennifer Vishagan

A poem, laced with nostalgia and loss, questions the senselessness of war

Missing Hurricanes and other five poems by Nancy Anne Miller

Nostalgia weaves through each of these poems, which evoke powerful memories of hurricanes, endless summers, island life, cultural delights, and the enchanting world of literature

The Punch Magazine's Poetry Issue 2023

Poetry from 40 poets around the world

The Poetry Issue 2023: Slivers of Time and other poems

Your fingernails are/Half silver moons,/Holding my face —/Your hair the whisper of night sky/I feel on my lips —/You are here.

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Magic of the Fall and other poems

Come, autumn is here/The leaves are bejeweled/In gold, ruby red, and all shades in between/ Let us play a bit more,/ Laugh a little more/Till the last leaf on the maple falls

The Poetry Issue 2023: Reality Check and other poems

Sea! Sea! ship ship ship ship/Gulls deep inland feel the nip./chopakaching? chipakachong!/Phonemes, spelling, away from song./teeoo chapacheecheechee/The kite sounded like that to me.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Measurements, a poem by Akshada Shrotryia

ages ago when they decided my grandmother had reached a marriageable age/ my great-grandmother taught her the art of cooking

The Poetry Issue 2023: House Has a Tongue and other poems

Must we go on like this,/full of viciousness, criticism,/quick to judge/ ready to be offended?/Are we empowered by this irascibility/or are we enslaved?

The Poetry Issue 2023: Two Poems by Ambika Ananth

Be my sanctuary/I surrender unto you/Everything I have/Everything I know..

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Water Bird’s Song and other poems

I will tell you from where the water flows/when all the rivers run dry/and the reckless seasons of pain/ dry their anarchic anguish/as light grows brittle and drops to dust.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Dear Wind, Go Slow and other poems

Falling like an autumn from Mahogany/I lie on the ground/the way a lover is glued to his beloved’s breast/ thudding & brimming.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Writing A Love Poem and other poems

I will write a love poem tonight/to plant a garden where you can arrive/at break of day, dip your misgivings in rose-caressed light

The Poetry Issue 2023: Deceptions Through Midnight and other poems

You left your hurt/with me and I named/it my own./The curtains now ruffle beside my earlobes/Tingling them in a burdened/mischief

The Poetry Issue 2023: Gynoids in Making and other poems

Be modest, walk modest, sit modest, speak modest, modesty is the/shibboleth for your nourishment. One size fits all, hair evenly/ tapered, your hair should not ask for attention.

The Poetry Issue 2023: District 9 as an Animated GIF and other poems

Stale breath at the gates/of dawn, a cloud of gnats./Chain link gates that whine/and rattle. To wring....

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Melody of Silence and other poems

Magical eyes that are longing to see and/ feel the unconditional love’s pathos/ encounter the imagery of white flowers blooming at night —

The Poetry Issue 2023: Fabricated and other poems

embroidered sea, laced/with surf, drapes a memory/in salt white chiffon.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Fire of the Thoughts and other poems

Felicity is agonizing/Blemishes the truth/Death saves life/By stretching its cloak tight

The Poetry Issue 2023: Stories From the Edge — Five Poems

one at a time, she said, her voice feeble/like the scent of night jasmines/ from the courtyard.

The Poetry Issue 2023: If I Had No Name and other poems

What would I scribble,/after each effacing wave,/ on sandy childhood beaches,/if I had no name?

The Poetry Issue 2023: Grandma’s Passing and other poems

Did you not envision, father,/that the staircase landings/would be too cramped/for grandma’s departure,/and you a civil engineer…?

The Poetry Issue 2023: Don’t Worry and other poems

If it dies once, don’t worry. It will come back again./ The pain has many places to go to. Lose your/ cigarette. It will come back anyway as a cover for a/past in the future.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Two Poems by Kiran Chadha

The vacuum is so apparent/Can you feel it as inherent/Or is it of my own making/The emptiness of lone living

The Poetry Issue 2023: Lora From Pristina and other poems

The Goddess descends into memories/Lora took into her arms/the blessed silence/an eye she gave to love

The Poetry Issue 2023: Neck of a Swan and other poems

You stretch like a frail white neck of a swan/in a sweeping curve through my universe—/the enormity of life weighs like an epic between us.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Mountain and Flower and other poems

Mountains are distinct from flowers/scaling heights beyond compare/Flowers are distinct from mountains/filling fragrances in the air

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Song Of The Open Road

The song of the open road/is a song —/With no verses or/magical words

The Poetry Issue 2023: Speaking to My Plants and other poems

While in the hills, I don’t get a chance to talk to my plants/They do most of the talking.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Overwatering My Plant

Brought you home to reap in my garden/A sublime flower like none other to prevail.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Cheap Love and other poems

Oh, love’s madness is a rare thing./As rare as kasturi, as cheap as opium./I have been loved cheap, I always had the opium.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Love Sounds Like This and other poems

Homesickness is a terrible disease with vastly different symptoms/Each as unique as the person living with it.

The Poetry Issue 2023: A Web of Coyness and other poems

She weaves in slow motion/Her web of shadowy coyness./With loving eyes/My gaze dribbles over her

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Two-Faced Mirror Between Us and other poems

We borrow the texture of our irises —/the muscle of our tissue redrawing outlines of crusty sunsets/Corneas overlapping carved dunes of a blazing afternoon/Pupils pairing the brimming emptiness under our window panes

The Poetry Issue 2023: Umbrella of Borrowed Words and other poems

Vienna stands silently/in the evening/glittering like a Christmas tree/Its extravagant coffee houses/serve sweet pastries with salty memories/Here you make friends out of strangers/and strangers out of friends.

The Poetry Issue 2023: A Drop of Tear and other poems

Thousands of rivers add incessantly to your ocean./The unbearable fraught makes you stumble./Thenceforth, I break those Hippocratic walls of resilience/and exude from the crevice.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Unleaving the City — Five Poems

There is a place where the world ends./This place is dance. I saw a woman/on the beach once, somewhere in the/ hot tropics of Southern India. Her arms/and legs were confessions, her body/a vessel for the jewelled confessional.

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Trident and the Tea-seller and other poems

There is now a vacuum inside the gates,/patches of love and strife on the trident/and outside some tea for passers-by.

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Eyebrow Man and other poems

The yam trees stood tall and proud/in neat lines dressed in military green/against the rain and the winds

The Poetry Issue 2023: Don’t Listen to Sad Music and other poems

My poetry is perhaps an act of cartography, mapping the vaporous terrain/ of my interior, as I keep mutating as an entity.

Dendrochronology and other poems

I want to leave you hummingbirds/meticulously feathered in pollen of/birdbaths, levitating conspicuously/ into liminal spaces, perseverance in/stamina and speed, humming along.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Behind the Seen and other poems

Iridescent blue stars dangle/ On the insides of my eyelids/In daytime darkness,/The sunlight caresses the outside

The Poetry Issue 2023: The Tears the Earth Hides and other poems

In the deep of the night/The earth leaves her tears upon the grass/At the crack of dawn/she longs for the same tears to soak up.

The Poetry Issue 2023: Palden Gyatso was Made to Shit in a Bucket and other poems

for thirty three years/He ate with animal and human manure/sticking to his fingers.

The Poetry Issue 2023: This Rain That and other poems

this rain that patters through/the night and drips/ all morning/from the eaves of age-soaked buildings/and lowered leaves of mango trees/along the street/was a glacier

What If

A poem from the point of view of a poor sweeper woman, and about her living nightmare

Fragments of Longing and other poems

Heartland of a Silent Landscape and other poems

To wake up from its soulful sleep/And look for a platform for it to perform/To make its peaceful whispers felt/ Casting a shadow over the mind’s turmoil

The Song of Despair and other poems

In an hour, three decades have lived in me./And all the while,/I have dreamt of Kashmir.

This Hungry Wave and other poems

Our gods have forsaken us/as we have our idols,/we are searching for them/behind masks, behind goodness/ in vials of survival

Lovers in A War and other poems

You ask me who I am, / And I say that when falling in love, some of us/ became poets, while some of us/became poems.

The Curse of the Rationalists and other poems

Four poems by a writer and a civil servant based in Dehradun (Uttarakhand)

Abandoned House and other poems

How do I renovate an/abandoned house? I can/paint it pink, yellow and the/brightest shade of blue but/I cannot bring back the/dwindled colours of smile.

Seeing Eye to Eye and other poems

Never mind that the canvas is small/And the painter must put his all/If he wants to depict the landscape/ In its beauty full of mystique/With his brush and palette of shades.

Lovers & Friends and other poems

Three poems by the poet whose collection, From the Wrong Room, has been published by Writers Workshop this year

Midlife Crisis of the Extraordinary Specials and other poems

Six poems by the Bangalore-based poet, who works as a consultant with the World Bank Group

The Punch Magazine’s Special Poetry Issue, 2022

Poems by 40 poets from the Indian subcontinent/diaspora, prefaced by notes and essays on their poetics, curated by Shireen Quadri

The Poetry Issue 2022: Reckoning with Ronaldo and other poems

Through the poet, the planet and all that is secret and known about it, emerges. And maybe that, there, is my final understanding of my work and my presence as a poet — to be a medium.

The Poetry Issue 2022: The Names of Things and other poems

‘My work does not want to fit into complex identities but, more difficultly, to transcend them. To transcend not just labels and histories but even the subtler trappings of language and time’

The Poetry Issue 2022: Village Women Sing — Five Poems

My poems remain replete with terms and idioms endemic to India from where I write.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Blue Cheese Dreams and other poems

My poetry is everything inside me/The debris I carry from Bombay, Baroda, Poona, Assam

The Poetry Issue 2022: Tube Rose and other poems

An immigrant from India, I am a survivor in Pakistan, trying to turn the art of survival into the art of poetry

The Poetry Issue 2022: A Morning in Eden and other poems

‘I approach poetry with a sense of devotion. There are rituals I like to adhere to. When I am working on a poem, my day opens with it and closes with it’

The Poetry Issue 2022: Dawn at Lake Pangong and other poems

‘Poetry to me is an attempt to make music out of life and language; an attempt to imbue language and life with the brief benedictions of a higher musical order.’

The Poetry Issue 2022: My Grandfather’s Clock and other poems

‘History of the subcontinent in general and Kashmir, in particular, runs all through my poems. They try to demonstrate how life can simultaneously hold survival, revolution, and unquenchable love.’

The Poetry Issue 2022: Lines Invoking the End of the World

For me, poetry must tell a story. It must stir emotions. It must transcend personal for universal.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Ma Recalls Winter and other poems

‘My practice as a poet is continually evolving. I feel most alive when I’m writing or creating in some way.’

The Poetry Issue 2022: Ghazal After Babri Masjid and other poems

Poetry came to me as the unbridling of my tongue from the strains of patriarchy. What aided my craft unknowingly was my grandmother’s retellings in the form of bhajans, religious hymns.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Lovers in a Cage and other poems

I love the mystery of a poem. I’m never certain of how the poem is going to end — I let the poem take its own journey.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Five Poems by Hoshang Merchant

‘I detest the male swagger of the Bombay School and their women poets imitating the style of Nissim Ezekiel. Ezra Pound’s Cantos which I imitate in my Paradise isn’t Artificial opened out the form to me’

The Poetry Issue 2022: Roses and Cotton and other poems

Gulaab Aur Kapaas (Roses and Cotton) positions Ishrat Afreen more in the tradition of the progressive writers, especially Makhdoom, who sought to see beauty in labour and valued women’s labour through traditional invocations of beauty

The Poetry Issue 2022: Families Are Disappearing and other poems

I don’t usually follow traditional forms or structures in my writing, especially poetry. But I do enjoy and write poetry that has an innate rhythm interweaved into it.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Mother and Daughter and other poems

I prefer the small brush stroke over the broad sweep, the embodied self over the abstract idea, particularities over a grand narrative

The Poetry Issue 2022: The Bounty of the Body and other poems

Kishwar Naheed is identified as a distinct voice in modern Urdu poetry. Her tone is individualistic but it has the echo of the widest collective experience

The Poetry Issue 2022: Two Poems by Leeya Mehta

I love the narrative poem. The poems that particularly interest me as a reader and writer have possibly three attributes: details and characters, historical context, lyric.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Reading Ghalib and other poems

Having divided my time for the last half a dozen years between Delhi and its northern suburb, I have grown enamoured of birds, and bird imagery and mythology are beginning to find their way into my poems

The Poetry Issue 2022: Your Absence is a Presence and other poems

I returned to poetry after many years — partly as a response to what was happening politically around us, and personally, to capture the inner-world and feelings of being a mother of young children.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Ganga Arti and other poems

My poems are almost always first drafts. I like them raw. I am aware they may become finer poems if edited. But I believe they will also become something else if tampered with.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Curly Clawing and other poems

The poems question, ride and revel in the mystery of being present in different places at the same time — physically, subtly, really

The Poetry Issue 2022: The Unreal, First Flush: A Monologue

Primarily an artist, I work with colours. Yet I paint rarely, and write even less …and whenever I do so, in both cases, I go into a spell…as if possessed by some creative inertia

The Poetry Issue 2022: Lockdown Birding and other poems

At the moment, my poetic process hinges entirely upon my involvement in the world of bird photography. The analysis of the supposed dissonance between the verbal and the visual takes up a lot of my time.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Awakening and other poems

My poems flow in free verse, which offers a blank canvas for my play with words, minus rigid rules around structure and form.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Touch and other poems

For me, there is an imperative to transgress the recognizable; to make insistent forays into the emotive landscape of the inarticulate.

The Poetry Issue 2022: The Dogs of All Stories and other poems

I assume multiple voices and narrative-genders in poetry and embody humanhood and cityhood with equal penchant. Poetry remains an informal art to me

The Poetry Issue 2022: Cogitations and other poems

Each poem comes to me in a different form. Many come as free verse too. I have not been able to decode this yet.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Yellow Sea Glass and Other Poems

I don’t write using strict schemes/patterns. I allow the poem to glide by itself using one image or a cluster of a few... Poetry like energy flows and must flow from one poet to another.

The Poetry Issue 2022: The View From Seventy and Other Poems

Saleem Peeradina’s poems affirm that imagination has the power to accommodate the universe on a sheet of paper. Not only is he able to capture still images but he also excels at freezing transient moments

The Poetry Issue 2022: Abundance and other poems

Poetry happens. All I do is put my interventions in it on paper. It’s as if you are reclining in a boat floating in a river, so you lose sight of the water just because you are surrounded by it.

The Poetry Issue 2022: The Age of Translucence and Other Poems

The idea of strangeness and its perpetuating essence in our lives is something that kickstarted my writing journey few years back and continues to be a cornerstone for any earnest endeavors in my poetry.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Left in You and Me and other poems

For me, poetry is a room where I find myself defining/recreating the self. The idea behind writing poetry is never to try to contain or rather, try to reduce my feelings, ideas, and perceptions to just a few lines

The Poetry Issue 2022: A Different Kind of Arithmetic and other poems

Poetry — especially in the context of gender, race and cultural identity — is one of witness, documenting what is said in the margins, or what might be hidden, waiting to be unearthed

The Poetry Issue 2022: Two Poems

A good poem contains an essential paradox — it works with the precision of a needlepoint and the expansiveness of the sea

The Poetry Issue 2022: Letters to the Forgotten Ancestor

Writing lures you into an unknown world full of puzzles, riddles and mysteries. It gives you a fleeting feeling of experiencing life with its contradictions and paradoxes.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Cosmocolossus and other poems

I found poetry in a pandemic. Or rather it found me with a vengeance.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Storm and other poems

To me, the essence of poetry is movement, the movement of words across a line, the movement of lines across a page, the movement of a poem from the poet to a reader.

The Poetry Issue 2022: Public Service Announcement and other poems

As a poet, my concern is to create beauty for a general audience

The Poetry Issue 2022: Abstract Oralism and other poems

A research poetry collection, ‘Abstract Oralism’ is a result of seven years of research, both oral and epistemological, by the academic, editorial advisor, research repository, literature curator and editor

The Caged Bird Rehearses Before It Sings and other poems

Six poems by the Pakistani writer and poet, whose micro-chapbook, Grief is a Firefly, was published by Origami Poems Project in October 2021. She likes to experiment with unexpected imagery and extended metaphors in her poems.

Kelly Against The Machine and other poems

Five poems by one of Malta’s most respected writers and a founding member of PEN Malta and its current president, who lectures in literary theory and Maltese literature at the University of Malta, translated by Ruth Ward

I Searched for You and other poems

I searched for you, though not well/In my youth and naïveté/Some vague idea but could not tell/What I hoped to find some day

Quarantine Sonnets and other poems

Poems by the Bulgaria-based writer, translator and lecturer as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Muhammad (PBUH): An Ode and other poems

Five poems by a poet from Aligarh (India), who is currently teaching English part-time at Adore India, a non-profit organisation

How Do Poets Write and other poems

Three poems by the poet, writer, former television anchor and model, excerpted from Where Stories Gather: Poems, published by HarperCollins India

Living in Fearlessness and other poems

Five poems by the Emeritus Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland

Disproportionate Shadow and other poems

Six poems by Madhu Kailas (the pen name of Kingshuk Basu). The Boatman of Murshidabad, his latest collection of poems, has been published by Aleph Books

Godot Speaks and other poems

Nine poems by the New York-based poet, as part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

American Welcome and other poems

Eleven poems by the Jamaican poet, as part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Fidelities, In Time and other poems

Five poems excerpted from A Moveable East By Siddharth Dasgupta (Red River)

Atom in a Language Ordinary and other poems

Five poems by the poet, whose four books of poetry include Two Full Moons, Words Not Spoken, The Longest Pleasure and The Silk Of Hunger

The Other Side and other poems

Three poems by the Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Shirakole College, Kolkata

Royal Salute and other poems

Poems by the author of Daring to Dream, a book of short stories for young adults

The Scent of an Indian and other poems

Three poems by the editor, educator and poet, who has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize

The Bottle of Promises and other poems

Five poems by the poet who has been shortlisted for the Sakhi Awards and the Cinnamon press literature awards

The Delhi Winter and other poems

Five poems by the author of Padma & Other Poems

Final Birdsong and other poems

Five poems by an emerging Pakistani writer, who is currently studying History and Political Science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada

Synapsis and other poems

Eight poems by the Chandigarh-based poet, editor, columnist and a translator

Talisman and other poems

Five poems by the Bengaluru-based educator and poet whose first volume of poetry, On the Sidewalk, was published in 2019

Mirabai Calls to Manuela by the Silla de Paita and other poems

Five poems by the author of four books of poetry, one chapbook, and two scripted/produced musical dramas, excerpted from her next book, I Will Not Bear You Sons, due in April from Spinifex Press, Australia

Abhay K: Blossom as Ipe Amarelo and other poems

'First an image, then a line comes and then gradually a poem starts taking shape. I write it down and revisit it after several days, or weeks or even months, then chisel it until all the unnecessary words are gone'

Adil Jussawalla: Shorelines and other poems

A sharp yet intimate voice, fearless but melancholic, marked by a darting, wily syntax, bristling rhymes, and an original prosody

Aditi Angiras: Kindness is Gangsta and other poems

‘Writing poetry to me is an instrument to think, deeply and honestly. Like a confession box, where you can do both — spill your sins and/or ask for forgiveness, and probably also ask the gods to fuck off.’

Anjum Hasan: The World As My Illness and other poems

'The model of poetry before me when I began writing was, however patchily, a twentieth century, mostly European, one.'

Anna Sujatha Mathai: Hints in a World Caught Between Living and Dying and other poems

‘My recent illness has made things more difficult, especially as I can’t wander around the house searching for a line in a book, or for some old paper or book, or just sitting and reading aloud some lines of poetry!’

Arathy Asok: A Woman an Afternoon and other poems

‘My poems have always tried to address the spaces that fall between the thought and the lived, the philosophy and the politics’

Arundhathi Subramaniam: Zoomsday and other poems

‘Poetry is the art of the murmured voice. If it raises its pitch, it distorts its own reality, compromises its own integrity. It is a reminder of the magic of the whisper, the sorcery of the hushed voice.’

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra: New Poems From ‘Lockdown Garden’

Compared to the luxury liners in my uncle’s library — the hardback volumes of the English poets printed in double columns — my vessel was not even a paper boat. I felt utterly defeated. It was terrible.

Ashwani Kumar: Waking Early in Ayodhya and other poems

Chewing long lines of unspoken words, I invented a new language of survival but never altered my voice either sighing or sewing

Barnali Ray Shukla: Passage of Time and other poems

With my engagement with the practice of cinema, the lens of poetry at times inclines towards a world where I am mindful of my reader as a collaborator

CP Surendran: I Am Nearly Not Here and other new poems

A poem is on Arthur Rimbaud and his life measured against his glory and shame; his situation spoke for me

Devdan Chaudhuri: The Diamond Sutra and other new poems

‘I simply allow poetry to happen; I don’t think about any theory or method or structure. I surrender to the moment, and to that, which comes naturally.’

Gieve Patel: Catholic Mother and other poems

‘The poems usually move from puzzlement and confusion to knowledge of a kind’

Hemant Divate: I’m a Freshly Slit Chicken and other poems

‘Words are his sharpened spoons and knotted bed-sheets of possible escape’

Jayshree Misra Tripathi: The Sixth Chakra in Foreign Lands

I try to present a poem in context — tradition, experience and within the background or history of that period

Jayanta Mahapatra: Four Puri Poems

'Chaos in the outside world has always been a challenge, but seems to be relevant to the poetry I’ve done'

Jayant Parmar: Dreams of Giacometti and other poems

‘The poem is a painting in conversation and the painting is a silent poem’

Keki N. Daruwalla’s Four New Sonnets

Writing is a life by itself, with the ages thrown in

Mamang Dai: New and Old Poems

I think poetry is about the truth of a moment. Poetry lifts the human condition with such thoughts into words where the language of the heart is the poem.

Manohar Shetty: Crime of Passion and other new poems

Poetry is a way of finding closure or to celebrate happy moments

Maitreyee B Chowdhury: Poems, New and Old

My writing has turned inward and I find myself immersed in subjects that are part of my history

Mustansir Dalvi: Poems, New and Old

The appearance of the poem on the page is significant. Although I no longer write poetry like I once did, there is a certain lawlessness that has carried on, like an after-image.

Nandini Sen Mehra: Peanut Shells and other poems

To me, poetry is intimacy. It is how the world moves through me and how I make sense of it. It is also how I process my own disquiet

Natasha Malpani Oswal: Starry Night and other poems

The poems are my truest voice — this is how I think. I write the poems as notes to myself as a personal diary, because I want to keep the words as sharp and vulnerable as possible.

Priya Sarukkai Chabria: Bank (a lockdown poem) and other poems

Writing poetry is for me both enchantment and intuition and a phenomenon akin to prayer; it makes me feel intensely alive

Ranjit Hoskote: Groove and three other new poems

In the visual arts, I draw on the productive paradox between abstraction and materiality; in poetry, I work with the interweaving of text and musicality

Rukmini Bhaya Nair: Cow and three new poems

'For me, poetry as a genre registers something of this ‘triumph of hope over experience’. Poetry gives us a lexicon that bears witness to the unspeakable. It improbably yokes despair to hope and quarantine to freedom.'

Sadaf Munshi: This Is No Dream and other new poems

Particularly inspired by works of Emily Dickinson, Rabindranath Tagore, Uche Nduka, Lal Ded and Rehman Rahi, many of my poems follow a minimalist style relying on precision and powerful evocative imagery.

Sampurna Chattarji: Writing isn’t Everything and other poems

Spatially and architecturally, I am increasingly interested in composing from an awareness of lived reality and embedded/embodied memory. Among my current preoccupations are the hybrid text, the long poem, the poem as essayistic foray

Sudeep Sen: Preparing for a Perfect Death and other poems

The architecture of a poem is very important to me — partly because of my own inherent interest in architecture itself. For me, typography and structure of a poem are just as vital as the inner spirit and content of any poem.

Tabish Khair: The Other Half of Kabir’s Doha and some new poems

Poetry needs a muse. Academia requires, at best, a research assistant. No wonder the deeper I sink in academia, the less poetry I write.

Tishani Doshi: This May Reach You Either as a Bird or Flower and other new poems

The language of newspeak is the opposite of the language of poetry — it bombards and jolts, then deadens and desensitizes. I see poems as a way to speak back to these headlines, to restore power to language and to offer an alternative space and time zone from the relentlessness of the news cycle.

Eight poems by Soumitra Chatterjee

Excerpted from Walking through the Mist by Soumitra Chatterjee, translated by Amitava Nag, Dhauli Books (2020, Rs 295)

The Brewing and other poems

Five poems by the researcher in English Language and Literature, who is conducting her doctoral research at the University of Kerala, India, that attempt to foreground the myriad regressive rituals that erase Malayali women’s resistances

The Moments We Created and other poems

Seven poems by the writer and educator based in Brooklyn whose writing addresses issues of friendship, masculinity, and gender

World Poetry/Prose Portfolio: Tokya Tanka and other poems

Ten poems by the Pushcart Prize-winning poet, author, editor and translator of over 15 books and chapbooks, whose memoir, Correctional, is forthcoming in 2021 from University of Wisconsin Press, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portoflio, curated by Sudeep Sen

World Poetry/Prose Portfolio: Forest and other poems

Twelve poems by the Italian poet, author of Nei Giardini di Suzhou (2015), Le regole del controdolore (2016), Alambic (2018), Nanita (Otata’s Bookshelf, 2017), Eva (2018), among others

A City Full of Sirens and other poems

Five poems by the bilingual poet who also writes in Marathi and has curated Crossover Poems, a multilingual poetry recitation platform, and created Kavita Café, a YouTube channel that combines cinematic vision with visual poetry

In the Age of Empire and other poems

Nine poems by the Sofia-based poet, editor of the publishing house Scalino since 2014, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

A Window and other poems

Nine poems by Alex Josephy, who divides her time between London and Italy, whose latest collection, Naked Since Faversham, was published this year by Pindrop Press, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Being a Man and other poems

Five poems by Barkha Shah, Bangalore-based freelance writer and digital marketing strategist. She calls this collection ‘Still Waters’ because of the clarity, simplicity and depth in these poems

Two Sides and other poems

Six poems by the Pakistani poet whose first book, Defiance of the Rose (2019), is a translation of selected verses by late Pakistani poet Parveen Shakir

Strider and other poems

Nine poems by the Sri Lankan-American poet-diplomat, essayist and translator, who has published 19 poetry collections, including The Migrant States, Coconuts on Mars and The Elephants of Reckoning, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Fear and Trembling and other poems

Seven poems by the Texas-based poet, who has has published several poetry collections, including Salt and Sorrow, Knows No End, and A Matter of Degrees, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Disquiet in Isolation and other poems

Six poems excerpted from Uncertain Times, first published in India by PepperScript, 2020

Barsi 2020 and other poems

Three poems by the former IAS officer and the author of And What Remains in the End: The Memoirs of an Unrepentant Civil Servant and The 70th Milestone, a collection of poems published by Speaking Tiger Books

Asylum Seekers and other poems

Eight poems by the multi-award-winning Macedonian author, who has published six books of poetry, three novels, one American diary and one short story collection, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Coming Home and other poems

Five poems by the Delhi-based economist in the development sector, who has a Ph.D. from Cornell University, and writes poetry and short essays in addition to her academic writing

The Dream of Walking in Clogs and other poems

Seven poems by the Danish poet, and the author of seven collections of poetry and three books of short fiction, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen. Hav's most recent book, Øjeblikke af lykke (Moments of Happiness) was published in 2020

Write and other poems

Seven poems by the German poet, whose most recent books are Der stärkste Mann der Welt, a collection of short prose, poems and collages (2018) and Hurly-Burly, a collection of visual poems (2020), as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Fiery-Tongued Serpent and other poems

Poems on Australian bush fire, migrant workers who walked long miles during lockdown to reach their villages, about man’s revelation on his relation with nature and on rural women’s struggle to carry water in some parts of India

A Dream and other poems

Five poems by Gujarat-based poet and pharmaceutical professional, who has come out with her first anthology of poems, published by EsquireVJ publications, recently

Cinquain Sonnets and other poems

Six sonnets and five poems by the American poet and novelist, the author of nine works of poetry and five works of prose, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Haji Ali and other poems

Five poems by the cultural theorist and curator whose seven collections of poetry include Vanishing Acts (Penguin, 2006), Central Time (Penguin/ Viking, 2014), Jonahwhale (Penguin/ Hamish Hamilton, 2018), and The Atlas of Lost Beliefs (Arc, 2020)

The Clock Cell and other poems

Ten poems by the Iranian poet, the author of six collections of poetry, a play, and various critical articles, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen. They have been translated from the original Persian into English by the poet

Testimony of the Untested: 10 Covid Poems

These poems by the Shetland Isles poet, author of five novels and three collections of poetry, are part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

In Search of a Homeland and other poems

Five poems by the New Jersey-based poet and teacher

The Blue Bird’s Ode to Corona, the Queen

Not a sound is heard/in the limitless desert of hope/of thoughtless, forsaken joy/But the darkened sky turns azure/with billowing clouds, wandering free

The Vegetarian and other poems

Five poems by the poet and development economist based in New Delhi, who was longlisted for the 2020 TOTO Award for Creative Writing in English

Song and Symphony and other poems

Three poems by the Saint Lucian poet as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Besieged City and other poems

Ten poems by the Belgrade-based poet, essayist, literary critic, editor and publisher, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Pink Wall Clock and other poems

Five poems by the Bermudian poet who has come out with eight poetry collections. Her latest, Tide Tables (Kelsay Books), appeared last year

The Letter from Rustu

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

The Islander and Me and other poem

These poems are part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

Postcolonial Poem

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

An Afternoon Nap in the Countryside

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

Were I Someone Else’s Island

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul's BoÄŸaziçi University

Otherwise

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

The Woman of the Seas

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

Island Poems, 47

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

Cardiography and other poems

These poems by three Turkish poets are part of our world poetry special issue, with a focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation in Istanbul's BoÄŸaziçi University

Caretaker Of Ghosts

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgul, an instructor of translation at Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s BoÄŸaziçi University

Porphyrogennetos

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgul, an instructor of translation at Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies, in Istanbul's BoÄŸaziçi University

Island in Translation: “Islands”

This poem is part of our world poetry special issue, with the focus on Turkey, curated by Ceyda Elgül, an instructor of translation at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies in Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University

The Night it Rained in the City and other poems

The last metro is empty/in the rain: a streak of light/carving the shape of night. At each empty station/the doors open, silence/enters — weight leaves. The doors close.

Thunder and other poems

Three poems by the NYC-based author of seventeen books: nine books of poetry, most recently, Crossing the Equator: New & Selected Poems and On Jupiter Place; seven novels, including Veronica and A Trip to the Stars; a nonfiction book, Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir & the American City

Seditious Heart and other poems

Five poems by a budding poet from the valley of Kashmir, who is currently a doctoral fellow at the department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, India

Five Love Poems

Five poems by the poet, translator, curator, a PhD scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and the founder of Panther’s Paw Publication

Her Marred Maang and other poems

Five poems by the architect, teacher and poet who shuttles between Bombay and Bangalore

Awakening from a Dream and other poems

Six poems from the Egyptian-American thinker/poet, and author of seven well-received books of poetry and prose, who was nominated for Pushcart Prize three times

The Remains of Love: A Sonnet Series

Excerpts from a sonnet series by a postgraduate student studying MA Creative Writing and Critical Life at the University of Leeds

A Requiem for Kashmir and other poems

Five poems by the Lahore-based professor of English who teaches at the Punjab University New Campus. His debut collection of Poems Lahore, I Am Coming, was published by Punjab University Press in 2017

The Golden Glass and other poems

Thirteen poems by the author of And What Remains in the End: The Memoirs of an Unrepentant Civil Servant, whose collection of poems, The 70th Milestone, has been published by Speaking Tiger Books

The Sculptor’s Guide To A Goddess and other poems

Five poems from the author of 'Urmila' and 'A Tinge of Turmeric', exploring the identity and womanhood in 21st century India

The Ferryman and His Clinking Obols

A poem by an emerging poet from Srinagar, Kashmir. He did his MA in English Literature at Central University of Kashmir

Yamuna and other poems

Five poems by a poet from Odisha, who is currently based in Delhi. His debut poetry collection, Padma & other Poems, has recently been published.

The Child Across the River and another poem

Two poems by French poet and novelist whose books include Marcher loin sous les nuages and Mémoires inconnues. Among her novels are: L’atelier des Strésor, Special Mention of the Franco-Indian Gitanjali Prize, and Tunisian Yankee

Sadness is a Boomerang and other poems

Five poems by the author and poet from India now based in London. Her published work includes two collections of poetry, and one novel. Her memoir, A Roll of the Dice: A Story of Loss, Love and Genetics, was published by Linen Press in the UK

To the February Rain and other poems

Five poems from an an aspiring Pakistani writer who intends to start university soon

I Write My Own Story and other poems

Poems by Chicago-based management professional and author of Shelling Peanuts and Stringing Words, a poetry collection

Paradox and other poems

Seven poems by poet, editor, translator, publisher and curator of the annual Odisha Art & Literature Festival

Ode to Sommersprossen and other poems

Four poems by the Austrian-American writer and spoken word artist, who lives in Berlin

Domestic Balance and other poems

Five poems from the Odisha poet, who is currently living in Bangalore

Two Poems

Two poems from the Florence-based poet who has published seven poetry collections, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by poet Sudeep Sen

Made to Order

A free-verse poem by the editor of micro indie publisher Saqi Books, London, who is also involved with various literary and literacy charities, including The Feminist Library and The Doorstep Library

Truth, the Hero, and other poems

Six poems from a Human Resources professional, who is currently on a career break, based in Gurgaon

Dreamworld and other poems

Five poems by the poet and musician based in Oxford, England. His works include the three-part album and stage-show Alexander the Great: a Folk Operetta and the pamphlets Reasons Not to Live There and The Gallows-Humored Melody

Can You Hear Our Screams and other poems

Five poems by Shanta Acharya, the author of eleven books, her latest being a poetry collection, Imagine: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins India, 2017)

Freedom and Other Poems

Four poems by the author of 21 books of poetry and numerous other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. Dawes recently won the prestigious 2019 Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry

The Bruised Lips of the Lilies and other poems

Five poems by Odisha poet and writer. He was shortlisted for the Wordweavers India Poetry Contest 2017 and longlisted for the Rhythm Divine Poetry Chapbook Contest 2018

I Discovered Deathlessness and other poems

Three poems by Delhi-based Shivangi Mariam Sharma, a publishing professional and a university dropout. Academically, her interests are literature and linguistics, and currently, she is negotiating the distance between Shivangi and Mariam

A March and other poems

Six poems by Jamaican poet and essayist Ishion Hutchinson, the winner of 2019 Windham-Campbell Prize for Poetry, from House of Lords and Commons: Poems (2016), a collection that traverses the borders of culture and time, in which he returns to the difficult beauty of the Jamaican landscape

Our City, the Beautiful and other poems

Six poems by Bucharest-based poet, translator, editor and teacher as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by poet Sudeep Sen

It’s Just Sadness and other poems

Five poems by Bucharest-based poet Anastasia Gavrilovici, translated from the Romanian in English by Cătălina Stanislav, Vlad Pojoga, Maria Tănăsescu, Cristina Alexandrescu, Raluca Rîmbu and the author, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio (WPP),curated by Sudeep Sen

Four Animals and other poems

Six poems by Turkish poet, actor,visual artist,editor and translator Erkut Tokman, translated from Turkish by Ä°dil Karacadag, as part of World Poetry|Prose Portfolio (WPP), curated by Sudeep Sen

Age and other poems

Five poems by Kusum Lata Sawhney, author of two novels, Kindred Spirits and Ayala, a collection of short stories, Wych Stories, and a collection of poems, I am all Woman

Last Ride Before The Monsoon and other poems

Five poems excerpted from Terrarium by Urvashi Bahuguna with permission from The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective

Poetical Paradise and other poems

Selected poems from A Deafening Silence by Romanian poet and art writer Magda Carneci, translated from Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin with the poet, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Teatime and other poems

Six poems by an undergraduate student studying Mathematics and Economics at the University of Delhi

Invasive Species and other poems

Five poems by Vermont-based American poet Samn Stockwell, whose two books of poetry, Theater of Animals and Recital, won the National Poetry Series (US) and the Editor's Prize at Elixir, respectively

I Am a Thousand and other poems

Three poems by Bhavika Sicka, an emerging writer from Kolkata, West Bengal, who is currently pursuing an MFA at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia

Love: A Trilogy and other poems

Six poems excerpted from Trips and Trials: A Selection of Poems and Songs by Jayshree Misra Tripathi, published by PepperScript

A Love Song and other poems

Four poems by the author of And What Remains in the End: The Memoirs of an Unrepentant Civil Servant and The 70th Milestone, a collection of poems, published by Speaking Tiger Books

A blue, crepuscular light and other poems

Nine poems by Romanian poet Cătălin-Mihai Ștefan, translated from the Romanian by Radu Andriescu as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

By Force and other poems

Ten poems by the Belgrade-born poet and short story writer as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Shadows and other poems

Eight poems from Bucharest poet Claudiu Komartin, translated from the Romanian by Andrew Davidson-Novosivschei as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

This is a Threat and other poems

Eleven poems from Swedish poet and critic Aase Berg, translated from Swedish into English by Johannes Göransson as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Green is the Color of Hope and other poems

Nine poems by Cosmin Perţa, a Romanian poet and novelist, translated into English by Tiberiu Neacșu and Chris Tanasescu, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Narcissus in Us and other poems

Five poems by Akshaya Pawaskar, a Goa-based doctor

Migration I and other poems

Four poems dedicated to Subodh Gupta, Sudhir Patwardhan, Caspar David Friedrich and Yoshitoshi Nakasu

In Translation: Six Russian poets

Poems by six Russian poets — Anastasia Afanasieva, Aleksandr Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Polina Barskova, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Daniil Kharms — translated from the Russian into English by Katie Farris and Ilya Kaminsky, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Gary’s Shop and other poems

Four poems by Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, one of Cuba’s most outstanding contemporary writers and winner of Spain’s coveted Loewe Poetry Prize, excerpted from despegue/departure, translated from Spanish by Katherine M. Hedeen, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

The Itch and other poems

Seven poems by the Edinburgh-born poet who has lived in India for over 50 years, excerpted from Eucalyptus Sextet, published by Bombaykala Books

Imperialists and other poems

Five poems by the assistant professor of English at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore

The Miracle of the Pomegranate and other poems

Five poems by Vijay Nambisan (1963-2017) excerpted from These Were My Homes: Collected Poems, published by Speaking Tiger

Diary Poem, Calcutta and other poems

Five poems by the Calcutta-based writer, editor and translator

The Party and other poems

Five poems by New Zealand novelist, playwright and poet whose poetry collections include In Vitro, Freda Kahlo’s Cry and Other Poems

Another Almost Made Up Poem and other poems

Eight poems by the Delhi-based journalist who is working on his first anthology

Let Me Discover Myself and other poems

Twelve poems by Saint Lucian poet and Industrial Relations Specialist George Goddard, who published his first collection of poetry Interstice in 2016, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Letters to Dead Boyfriends and other poems

Thirteen poems by Jamaican poet Ann-Margaret Lim, author of two collections of poetry, Kinston Buttercup and The Festival of Wild Orchid, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

In the Midst of Words and other poems

Fifteen poems by Sarwat Hussain, translated from Urdu into English by Riyaz Latif

Epiphaneia and other poems

Seven poems by the author of Make Us All Islands (Shearsman), which was shortlisted for the 2017 Felix Dennis Forward Prize, and Giant (Platypus Press), as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

In A Certain Light and other poems

Three poems by Summer Edward who teaches writing and communications at The University of the West Indies as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Home Truths and other poems

Five poems by the South African poet whose debut collection of poetry is Friends of the Tender Board, currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes University in South Africa

Brahms and other poems

Four poems by the co-founder of New York Writers Workshop and a member of Asia Pacific Writers & Translators as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

White Eyeliner to Hillary and other poems

Eight poems by the Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Publishing at Missouri Western State University as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

A Misanthropic Prayer and other poems

Five poems by the Bangalore-based engineer

In Search of Benevolent Immortality and other poems

Twelve poems by US-based poet, linguist, literary translator and actor as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen, excerpted from Life in Suspension, published by Salmon Poetry

Joan Murray: Four Poems

Excerpted from Drafts, Fragments, and Poems: The Complete Poetry (2018), a collection of Murray's writings edited by Farnoosh Fathi and published by NYRB Poets.

If They All Met At Pushkin Cafe

Two poems by the Kolkata-based award-winning entrepreneur, women’s and minority rights activist

Register of Eliminated Villages and other poems

Five poems by Bengali-American poet and winner of the 2009 Cohen Award. Her second collection of poems, Registers of Illuminated Villages: Poems, has been published by Gray Wolf Press this year

Cruel Interventions and other poems

Four poems by the author of Whorelight and the 2017 Charles Wallace India Fellow in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Chichester, UK

Aurora and other poems

Five poems by a student of MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of the Arts London

Two Poems: Yellow Lane Diaries and Chinese New Year at Bow Barracks

Two poems by the author of First Will And Testament, a collection of poems published in 2012

Four Poems from Avaruusruusuja

Four poems by the Finnish poet from Avaruusruusuja (Space Roses, 2014), translated from the Finnish by Emily and Fleur Jeremiah, supported by Finnish Literature Exchange, as part of World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

A River Splits The City and other poems

Five poems by the author of The Wanderlust Conspiracy, a poetry collection, Letters From An Indian Summer, a novel, and The Sacred Sorrow of Sparrows, a short-story collection

Years After the War and other poems

Ten poems by poet and fiction writer Susmita Srivastava, who divides her time between writing and theatre

A Travel Book on Tibet and other poems

Six poems by India’s best-known poet and novelist from Naishapur and Babylon: Poems (2005–2017), published by Speaking Tiger Books

‘Country’ Poems and Continuous Fragments

Two works by Romanian poet and fiction writer Tudor Crețu, as part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Evil and other poems

Five Poems by the author of three collections of poems: Bujhe Rangon ki Raunaq (Splendor of Faded colors), Tanhai ke Tehwar (Festivals of Solitude) and Aaeene Ke Zindani (Captives of the Mirror)

An Almost Made Up Poem and other poems

Five poems by the New Delhi-based journalist, who works with The Indian Express, and has been working on his first book of poems

Banyan Tree and other poems

Five poems excerpted from Ruskin Bond's I Was The Wind Last Night: New and Collected Poems, with permission from Speaking Tiger Books

Lisa Ray: Poems

Actress Lisa Ray, a covert writer, dons many hats. She had a serendipitous career in entertainment arts spanning multiple countries, films and modelling. She has started her own yoga studio and a line of ethical perfume. Her poems explore themes derived from an identity-bending, nomadic experiences, the culmination of a life of no fixed address

In Poetry’s Dark Nights and other poems

Eleven Poems by Riyaz Latif, translated from Urdu by the poet

An Old Woman and other poems

Six poems by Delhi-based teacher and library movement activist whose first collection of poems, Delhi Love Songs, was published by Speaking Tiger In association with the Jehangir Sabavala Foundation in December 2017

A Spotlight and other poems

Five poems by the poet and musician based in Oxford, England

Troubadour Song and other poems

Five poems by American poet and critic who has published nine books of poems

A Shortage of Words and other poems

Six poems by New Delhi-based poet and novelist C P Surendran from his new collection, Available Light: New and Collected Poems

Diplomatic Baggage and other poems

Six poems by Goa-based poet Manohar Shetty from his new collection, Full Disclosure: New and Collected Poems (1981-2017)

Getting There and other poems

Five poems by North Carolina-born Bethany W. Pope, whose six collections of poems have been published in the last five years. Her first novel, Masque, was published by Seren in 2016.

Sit down and shut up and other poems

Five poems by Edinburgh-based Colin McGuire — poet (As I Sit Quietly, I Begin to Smell Burning), performer and creative writing teacher — who has worked collaboratively with the Scottish Poetry Library

Poems as Kite Tails above a Cliff

Poems as Kite Tails above a Cliff by Colombia-based George Mario Angel Quintero, who has written fiction, poetry and essays, in English and Spanish, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Nights and other poems

Five poems by the author of three poetry collections — Trumbull Ave., And the Business Goes to Pieces and Sudden Parade

Menses and other poems

Three poems by Irish poet and activist Emily Davis-Fletcher

Reading 'A Song' by Goethe and other poems

Eight poems by London-based poet, editor and translator Astrid Alben under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Ten Short Poems

Margarita Serafimova has published two collections of poetry in the Bulgarian, Animals and Other Gods (2016) and Demons and World (2017)

Beyond the Night and other poems

Anu Majumdar’s books include Refugees from Paradise and God Enchanter (fiction); The Infinity adventures (YA); Mobile Hour and Light Matter (poetry)

Who Knew and other poems

Five poems by London-based poet and short story writer, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

And soon... and other poems

Six poems by art critic, novelist, award-winning poet, lecturer and broadcaster Sue Hubbard, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Symbol and other poems

Four poems by American poet and essayist Alfred Corn, the author of 11 books of poems and two novels, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

My desire is zaftig and other poems

Six poems by Rishi Dastidar, consulting editor at The Rialto magazine and a member of the Malika’s Poetry Kitchen collective, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio curated by Sudeep Sen

Thirst and other poems

Four poems by US poet and editor Leslie McGrath, the author of Opulent Hunger, Opulent Rage, which was a finalist for the 2010 Connecticut Book Award for Poetry, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio curated by Sudeep Sen

Sartorial Advice and other poems

Five poems by Scott Edward Anderson, author of Fallow Field and Walks in Nature’s Empire, who has been a Concordia Fellow at the Millay Colony for the Arts, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio curated by Sudeep Sen

Delusions of the Retina

Two poems by English poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator Elaine Feinstein under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

The Apple Argument and other poems

Poems by Maitreyabandhu under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen. Maitreyabandhu’s new collection Yarn (Bloodaxe) was published in autumn 2015. He lives and works at London Buddhist Centre

Not In My Name

This poem has been written to mark the pan-India protest on June 28, 2017, #NotInMyName

Curtains

Two poems by Amrita Ghosh under Parnassus: Poetry, curated by Siddhartha Gigoo

The Petting Zoo and other poems

Three poems by Subhash Kak under Parnassus: Poetry, curated by Siddhartha Gigoo

A Sea Change and other poems

Six poems by Boston-based Melissa Green, author of three books of poetry, including Magpiety; and two memoirs, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

Darkly and other poems

10 poems by British poet Ian Duhig, twice winner of National Poetry Competition, under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Love and other poems

10 poems by Turkish poet and fiction writer Müesser Yeniay under World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen. Translated from the Turkish by Müesser Yeniay

Fatal Journey and other poems

Sukrita Paul Kumar is a well-known poet, critic, translator and artist. She has published several collections of poems in English, including Dream Catcher, Without Margins, Untitled, Apurna, Folds of Silence and Oscillations

For Little Girls With Big Questions and other poems

Harnidh Kaur is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Policy. Her books, The Inability of Words (Writer's Workshop, India) and The Ease of Forgetting (Thought Catalog Books, New York) are now available.

Boredom of the Writer and other poems

Adnan al-Sayegh, born in al-Kufa, Iraq, has been living in exile in London since 2004. He has published eleven collections of poetry, including the 550-page Uruk’s Anthem (Beirut 1996). His poems here are part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

Extracts from Gilgamesh Retold and other poems

Jenny Lewis is a poet, playwright and songwriter specialising in cross-arts collaborations of poetry, music, dance and visual art. . She teaches poetry at Oxford University. Her poems here are part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

They Were Closing Deals and other poems

George Szirtes’ translation of László Krasznahorkai’s Satantango won the 2013 Best Translated Book Award in the US as well as the translator’s prize in the Man Booker International 2015. His poems here are part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio [WPP], curated by Sudeep Sen

No one to wait at the Doorsteps and other poems

This door is a forlorn boat of nostalgia plying lonely, with creaking sounds in the river that still feeds the fear — which grips and presses me against the hope of running back in time.

A Prostitute Celebrates Diwali and other poems

Four poems by author and translator Arvind Gigoo as part of our newly introduced section Parnassus: Poetry, curated by our contributing editor Siddhartha Gigoo

A Poet Steals my Grandfather’s Skull and other poems

Four poems by Irish poet Eleanor Hooker as part of our newly introduced section Parnassus: Poetry, curated by our contributing editor Siddhartha Gigoo

World Poetry/Prose Portfolio: I Am A Film

This poem by Stephen Watts, the London-based poet, editor and translator, is part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

World Poetry Day: The Chicken Trusser

Sharanya Manivannan’s most recent book is The High Priestess Never Marries, a collection of stories, which was shortlisted for the Tata Lit Live! Award For First Book (Fiction). She is also the author of a collection of poems, Witchcraft, and a children’s picturebook, The Ammuchi Puchi. Her next book of poetry, The Altar of the Only World, is forthcoming from HarperCollins India in 2018.

World Poetry Day: The Enigma and The Theatre

Devdan Chaudhuri, contributing editor of The Punch, is also a member of Calcutta-based group Poetry Paradigm, which has collaborated with 27 establishments (cafes and hotels) in 8 cities in four countries who will offer a free coffee/tea with an original poem on March 21 to celebrate the UN World Poetry Day. This poem was written for the occasion.

World Poetry/Prose Portfolio: Anna Christina and other poems

These poems by Estonian writer and poet Mathura M Lattik are part of the World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen

The River and other poems

Four poems by Sathya Saran, consulting editor, HarperCollins Publishers India, executive director, Encyclomedia, and Contributing Editor, The Punch

World Poetry/Prose Portfolio: RED in Konya

This is part of a section, World Poetry/Prose Portfolio, curated by Sudeep Sen. Sholeh Wolpé is an Iranian-born poet, literary translator and writer. Her latest collection of poems is Keeping Time with Blue Hyacinths. Wolpé’s modern translation of The Conference of the Birds by the 12th century Iranian Sufi mystic poet, Attar, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton.

When J.S. Bach Meets Johnny Walker Black Label and other poems

These poems by Omar Sabbagh are part of a new series we introduce this month — World Poetry/Prose Portfolio (WPP), curated by Sudeep Sen

A Tale of Seasons  and other poems

A Tale of Seasons, Colourless Canvasses, Melancholic Trilogy

Belonging by Namitha Verma

Two Poems

Pigeons by Sanjeev Sethi

Two Poems excerpted from This Summer and That Summer, published by Bloomsbury India

My Bohemian Brother and other poems

My Bohemian Brother, Promise of Peace, Don't be Afraid, Stairs to the Sky

Not All For Love and other poems

Not All for Love, Anniversary of Light, Watchers

Day and Night and other poems

Day and Night, The Shapes of Things, The Forms Lie on the Table, To the Moon, No Further War

M.S. Attack and other poems

The City is Claimed, Crocodile Lake Revisited, Sieve, M.S. Attack

Mountains and other poems

Mountains, The Himalayas, Sagarmatha, Machhpucchere, Green Gorge, Fewa, Gupteshwor Falls, Chure

Inheritance

Holding open the bathrobe, she looks for signs: a housewife's belly of leftovers and fasts and scars left by gut

Turning off the Lights

Turning off the Lights, The Affair II

Sermon and other poems

Sermon, Banyan and Each of Us Has Our Dharma

Dirge and other poems

Something Rich and Strange, Medical Entry, Spider, Dirge and The Fly in the Ointment

Midnight, Christmas Eve

Midnight, Christmas Eve and Screen-saver

Chalk Dust on The Air

Chalk Dust on The Air, ZoSo by the winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

They and We Will Get Into Trouble for This

Poems excerpted from They and We Will Get Into Trouble for This by Anna Moschovakis, New York-based poet, translator and editor

Cactus and other poems

Five poems from The Missing RIB: Collected Poems by K. Satchidanandan

Songs From A Mountain

Four Poems excerpted from Songs From A Mountain by Amanda Nadelberg

Blossoms and other poems

Blossoms, The Aubade, Helter, Skelter

The Beauty of Meaning and other poems

Excerpted from the manuscript of selected poems titled Love and the Other Madness by Devdan Chaudhuri