Two Poems by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Two Poems by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Caught in the Crossfire by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Like uninvited roaches,

the swarm of metallic abuse

and silent shrieks entered the day.

I wondered,

should I surrender to my blunder of care

or run like the herd of cowards?

I fell into the hands of fate—

wrong place, wrong time

as the wise ones say.

My anxiety moved,

by the death of humanity,

my feet remained firm.

The remnants write my story

from the Gates of Hades,

but the ink is drying up.

Unseen is the stream of red

and my body—

a blend of  dust,

imprints of nightmare, decaying flesh.

Arranged by Sweta Srivastava Vikram

At twenty, the relatives brought her dark honey.

Minutes were inscribed, her future sealed

for what was—her family thought a good deal.

But no one chose to see

the unrest in her breath,

for forty years,

her eyes talked to the rain.

At sixty, at her husband’s wake,

she dug through the tunnel

of memories, sugar tasted bitter.

Coerced to be a perpetual giver—

a daughter, mother, and a wife.

She finds a best friend

in the solitude of freedom,

bids adieu to her

abducted existence.

She finally smiles

with her eyes.

Author’s Bio: 

A graduate of Columbia University, Sweta Srivastava Vikram reads her work, teaches creative writing workshops, and gives talks at universities across the globe. Sweta is an award-winning writer, poet, novelist, author, essayist, educator, and blogger whose musings have been translated into four chapbooks of poetry, two collaborative collections of poetry, a novel, and a nonfiction book of prose and poems (upcoming in 2012). Her scribbles have also appeared in several anthologies, literary journals, and online publications across six countries in three continents. Sweta has won two Pushcart Prize nominations, an International Poetry Award, Best of the Net Nomination, Nomination for Asian American Members’ Choice Awards 2011, and writing fellowships. Taj Mahal Review describes her as "A poet with hauntingly beautiful talent." Sweta has held several artist residencies in Europe and America and worked on collaborative projects with artists from Zimbabwe and Australia.  Sweta lives in New York City with her husband. She can be reached at: www.swetavikram.com.

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