Poetry: Shikha Sawhney Lamba

Shikha S. Lamba

This is How I Wait Out the Day, On Many Days 

I claim the rip in my skin,

the ache in my spine,

my back rounding to a perfect defeat.

Here’s the thing, I demand a retraction

from myself on days I see the world 

spreading its ochre decay far and wide, 

blistering lives as its rot escalates. 

I can’t witness each fanatic on a mission, 

decimating the very skeleton of our existence.

Take a rendezvous, my heart says,

take your skin and the hope it houses

as far from this gravity of grief as you can,

at least for a while, at least for a while.

***

Erased Migration 

“The majestic Siberian cranes will never come to India again – it's almost confirmed now.” 

- Deccan Herald 2015

The Siberian crane from the Ob marshes has taken a long pause, 

no longer visiting Bharatpur, the land of the Rajas. 

An escape from the Siberian winter is no longer necessary 

for the birds now well rested and warm in the afterlife. 

They say, the path of the birds is “war-ridden”. They say, the birds 

are exhausted flying halfway to a place that no longer welcomes them. 

If you had asked me about wetland drainage last week, 

I would have been baffled and confused. After all, 

we humans are seldom taught about the disasters we create, 

least of all reminded about how much we drain, dredge, encroach, 

convert, extract, and facilitate the natural world for our own gain. 

We demand so much from the world, it has no choice but to 

gradually extinct itself bird by bird, creature by creature. 

People say, they are attempting to revive, breed, protect, 

transform, conserve and monitor. People also say 

for the India bound cranes, death is now irreversible.

***

The Nature of Devastation

Tragedy doesn't knock when she enters. 

No, she will make her entrance boldly – 

like a Matador, richly dressed 

in studded gold. 

She doesn't sneak in or invade gently 

like a dark mist seeping in. 

She bellows her way through,

demanding attention and a captive audience.

***

Bio: Shikha Sawhney Lamba is a jewelry designer and poet living in Hong Kong.  She is the co-editor of an online magazine, Coffee and Conversations. Shikha has contributed poetry and visual art for publications in Hong Kong, US, UK, Bangladesh, Indonesia, The Netherlands and India. Her poems and photographs were nominated for Best of the Net in 2023 and 2024. She is a 2023 Pushcart prize nominee.

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Setu, March 2025