Poetry 2018 Longlist, Swetha Sadanand

Continental Drift

We are two continents, you and I
You, the majestic barren land where dreams come true
And I, the unattainable virtue you struggle to hold on to
A large part of youth is spent admiring you
While tables turn in a few years
The grass is greener on my side, I hear
A peninsular approach towards the secrets I know
Creating diversions, you put forth easy lies to swallow
Unpredictable sometimes are the tides that surround us
Mocking our connection, testing my patience
Posing threats to you when you unlock my other dimensions
I am virility incarnated, you invented serendipity
Together we move in inches, accustomed to unsaid formalities
But away are our movements
Crevices appear in your rocks, your heart abruptly stops
I rush to you and life ends, my shoulders wet with a million alien teardrops
Oceans form from our deaths
Salty waters ooze out uselessly everywhere
What remains of us are shreds
Fragments of land that formed our cores, torn away, floating on bloody shores
We were two continents, you and I
We could not thrive nor survive the test of times