Poetry 2018 Longlist, Priyanka Roy Banerjee

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This repetitive exercise of
stirring, shaking, being…
Flexing muscles to laugh
when it doesn’t even matter…

Of fragrant, steaming rice,
aromatic meat, spices
necessary to congeal relationships...
Under starry nights, the woody odour of
bourbon blends with the sour of wine…
What if it didn’t?

C’est la vie? No, c’est un reverie,
A dream that must spawn more…
where each fights the other, to
exist, excel, and evaporate into
clouds of the life that we dream of.