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Ranjani Neriya
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Conundrum
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who wasted a match on these tenements of ash
as if the burn of our bodies was not enough
who asked dreams to rattle the unlocked gate
when wakefulness was more death-like than sleep
who wised up the vineyard’s last broth of grape
into a bromide made of the melted tar of dark
who in this fiery season of battleground grist
chose the white skin of a lamb to paint its meme
who walks in the shivaree of these trampled fields
to plant an arrow in the reeling path of stars
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​Ranjani Neriya was born and raised in the south-western coastal town of Mangalore, India. Her poems, short stories, and articles have been published in several magazines in India. Her poems have also appeared in many U.S. journals. Kelsay Books published her collection, The Flowering Word Tree, in 2022. She resides in Michigan.