Sukanya

Sukanya dreams from the cradle of Calcutta

of bohemian socialites and their ramshackle cafe-

the cornerstone of civilization for an analog zeitgeist

she canonizes Tagore and questions her father

endures through her schooling by scribbling

poetic musings across the pillars of marketing

and associating with the socially disassociated

among whom recklessness is respected and

selective thinking is expected

those who re-tweet the black bloc and seek fame

through digitally preaching chaos

who idealize anarchist insurrections through

a self-published zine filled with thinly-veiled

bourgeois complaints against the hegemonic oppression of Starbucks

She could not relate

 

She submitted her written compositions for publication

so was granted an opportunity to fuel her notoriety and

cede sobriety as she sheepishly ordered small-sized well drinks

soaked in the seedy synthesizers of Austin city nights

Inviting the insights of an attractive Brooklynite

and foolishly falling for his free spirit

A smart-assed bombast of a slam poet

who layered verses with awkward obscenities

and worshiped his own god damned brilliance

who was consistent in his emotional distance

and insisted his truth was buried in the bullshit

like most of his audience,

she lost interest the longer he spoke

She often thought about home and the simpler life she had known

Sukanya sought culture without structure

the profane and vulgar

the creators and innovators

she sought to pen home about her soul’s brethren

to meet and forget

to live and regret

Sukanya sought to

dream.

 

Reviews

[rmk]

Not sure why you decided to center the poem and give it a special shape? I copied the poem and made your lines into prose. I often do this when figuring out the meaning of a poem. It didn't get clarity, but as a prose poem, the meaning jumped off the page right into my brain.