Suchita Parikh-Mundul

Two Poems

dust

what are we but interstellar dust 
collecting and dispersing in a breath, 
like particles of time 
building, accelerating, multiplying, 
then dividing. 

what are we but powdered ash 
washing over grey generations, 
spinning over everything 
and nothing, 
over and again.

recipe



| take a fistful of powdered time |
| add salted tears |
| knead well until picture forms |
| frame for social media |

| freeze or bake for fifteen 
seconds of fame before 
deep frying | 
| consume while fresh |

| enjoy the memory of unedited moments 
while tasting calorific algorithms |

| if sauce is desired
allow an opinion 
to decompose |

| this recipe has been 
handed down generations 
of influencers |

| if masala is desired
add filter |
| as per taste |

Suchita Parikh-Mundul is a freelance writer, copy editor, and poet. She has worked with magazines and websites. Her poetry has appeared in Sahitya Akademi’s Indian Literature, and online literary magazines like Muse India, Hakara, The Quiver Review, Plato’s Caves Online, Visual Verse, Yugest Quest Review and Life and Legends. Her work has also been included in international anthologies. A collection of poems, Liquid Apnea, was published in 2005. Her poems won a local poetry tournament in 2019. She was also a runner-up in a national poetry contest in 2020.