Bio
Anuradha Vijayakrishnan is an Indian writer living in Dubai. Her work has appeared or will be published in Stand Magazine, The Chakkar, Twenty-Two Twenty Eight, Borderless journal and Magma. She is the author of a poetry collection (The Who-am-I Bird, Bombaykala) and a novel Seeing the girl (LiFi Publications). Her work has been translated into Chinese, Italian and Arabic.
Anuradha Vijayakrishnan
Machine
A pair of brown mynahs crossing the road, walking
not flying
measuring time in dainty hops
as we zoom down in our brown machine
on a road we built on an earth we own
in a universe we shall soon
conquer - and birds are still doing their hop-hop
while we slow down, slow breathe and hold our hearts
lean out of our windows waving at them as they hop-hop-hop
towards ashen grass and yellow sand
unafraid of our kingly ways or universe that promises summer
every year but also winters of desolate
nest-making, hop-hopping and cackling at mad creatures
who cross their paths, whose feathers
are easily ruffled.