Sabyasachi Roy is the author of Writing While the World Burns, an e-book on the craft of writing published by Authors Publish. His poems have appeared in Stand, Poetry Salzburg Review, Singapore Unbound, The Wise Owl, and others. His fiction has been published in Viridine Literary, Inglenook Lit, After the Storm, among several journals. He writes craft essays regularly for Authors Publish, and his photography has been featured in The Sunlight Press, Ink In Thirds Magazine, and as a cover image in Sanctuary Asia. His oil paintings have appeared in The Hooghly Review among others. Follow his writing on Matador:
https://creators.matadornetwork.com/
profile/e0x59k96/
Craft essays:
https://authorspublish.com/author/sabyasachi/ https://sabyasachiroy.substack.com/ Photography:
https://www.eyeem.com/u/sabyasachi13/
illustrations

Sabyasachi Roy

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Balcony Instructions for Mild Loneliness

The night flicks eyeliner across the sky—
messy wing, zero regrets.
Bass thumps through three walls
like a neighbor's heartbeat trying too hard.

I text you, erase it, text again, erase—
Butler says we're all rehearsing anyway,
so maybe my thumb is just running lines.

A couple downstairs pose
under a sad streetlamp
like they want to be tragic folklore.
Honestly, same.

If you come over, great.
If not, this balcony will learn
how to hold me without dropping a thing.