The recipient of Nissim International Poetry Prize 2020, Nikita Parik holds a Master's in Linguistics, a three year diploma in French, and another Master's in English. Diacritics of Desire (2019) is her debut book of poems, followed by Amour and Apocalypse (2020), a novel in translation. She was the former Assistant Editor of Ethos Literary Journal, and currently edits EKL Review. Her works have appeared in Rattle, U City Review, The Alipore Post, Vayavya, The Bombay Literary Magazine, Bengaluru Review, and others.

Nikita Parik

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A Ghazal for the Art of Free-falling

(a Ghazal)

A blue serenity has forested where a stillness blooms,
A cold fire now abounds where a stillness blooms

I shut my eyes, a calmness sweeps me over
Silence like a song sounds where a stillness blooms

Existence is but one deep breath centred into self,
Purposeful breathing resounds where a stillness blooms

This life is a droplet hanging on the eyelash of fate,
Forgiveness is profound where a stillness blooms.

Drown yourself in this river, Nikita, for
Being lost is being found where a stillness blooms