Mantis 22 (Summer 2024)
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Abhishek Udaykumar
Middle World
Scarves of wind
heave the plains
till they are deserted
in cacti fields –
Past tins of diners and bagels scabbed with maps of cargo trains.
Through cigars of chimneys wrapped with dehydrated rain and the
weight of people’s affairs.
leeks of hay
and bottlebrush birds
find refuge
on skeletal billboards –
A single string guitar shivers through the sleepy sawdust, for muted
secrets buried beneath coir beds. As opal eyed teens in blue overalls
walk to cavernous schools.
making bets
over teenage things
as lovers scuffle
against lovers –
Breaths of brandy licking pool clubs swig the sand dunes to Paris, Texas
tunes. Broke and alone, lipstick loners hang out in hopes of beery love
and the iron rain.
ABHISHEK UDAYKUMAR is a writer, filmmaker and painter from India. He graduated from Royal Holloway University of London with English and Creative Writing. His narratives reflect the human condition of rural and urban worlds, and explore eternal landscapes through film and prose. He is passionate about old-school illustrations, Persian Miniatures, qawwali music, carnivalesque tales and marine life; and reading Tamil, Hindi and Urdu. He has been published by different literary journals and has made thirteen independent films. He hopes to live in a cabin amongst tree overlords and joyous amphibians.