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from The Hymn to Inanna
By Enheduanna
Translated By Jane Hirshfield
Lady of all powers,
In whom light appears,
Radiant one
Beloved of Heaven and Earth,
Tiara-crowned
Priestess of the Highest God,
My Lady, you are the guardian
Of all greatness.
Your hand holds the seven powers:
You lift the powers of being,
You have hung them over your finger,
You have...
From “Anagrams” [xxv]
By Luke Kennard
An extremely hubristic, unflattering, and accurate self-portrait, this episode saw Halberg in direct conversa-
tion with Cain, questioning his own methods. The passing allusion to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin appears
to reference Chapter 4, stanza XXXV: “But I myself read my bedizened /fancies,...
The Dice Changer
By Duane Niatum
Raven steals your name for an autumn joke:
buries it along with you under the broadest hemlock
known to squirrel or chipmunk.
He croaks it’s too bad you were awake for the event.
He accuses you of boring him
with the same old questions over...
Implications of the Last Hecatomb
By Ray DiPalma
Many of the oldest priests were there, their ceremonial robes
in tatters but the knives they held appeared bright and recently honed.
Most of these men had not been seen in years, having with the passage
of time drifted away without offering any...
Interactive :: House Saints
By Hala Alyan
kālī mahāmāyā
By Kanya Kanchana
darkriver moonrise
girlrise locksdrip
firmfoot mudbank
starwheel skinflush

red
mouthswell tongueloll
breastswell hipswell
archback cockride
nailrake treebark
sunripe wombswell
cuntswell rockback
haunchsquat pullsquirt
babesquall blooddrip
sweatdrip slimedrip

devour
headfirst skullcrack
laugh

leaffall headback
laugh

you were seen mother
but there was nothing
to see
Curvilinear
By Biswamit Dwibedy
As a rule, we are only because
men have looked down upon
us with such kindness
straight into our eyes.
Warriors stare each other down.

Reach its climax at the Shikhara, or the Vortex
is the subject of the verse. Has been, since way before
Pound’s age,...
What Lights Up...?
By Keki Daruwalla
what lights up
the lightbulb filaments
of your recall Old Man
this streak of fire
through the thin wire
of memory and mind
what line
from which poet?

the ibex looking down
quizzically
at our car from cliff
the croc sunning corrugated hide
on the banks of the Rapti
as I cross the...
Black Notes on Genre for My Beloved
By Rukmini Bhaya Nair
i poetry

Pull down the crows from the sky
Piya, summer’s blood is barely dry
What is a poem if it cannot try
To call you a ****ing ***** or die
Whispering in your arms, this lie
When Kabira met Keats, he said:
Our poems make canopies...
Map
By Biswamit Dwibedy
These are all ancient names of what you will once call home.

The shape of the fire altar is independent of time.

Each temple is an offering made to the gods
by giving them a home.

An inward realization can only be achieved
by draining...
the night I fucked the border patrol agent
By Shivanee Ramlochan
After
the small bomb of his orgasm
I stole his mother’s crucifix,
darted through the back doors.

I never saw the dogs.
Quick like Krishna’s gopis they swarmed me.
Pink tongues of threat and purebred musk.
Rosaries of saliva.
Jaws open like warm ovens for bread and fish.

I...
Petitioning the Patron Saint of Childbirth
By Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné
There is a place not far from here where
two rivers meet the sea, a shore dark
and pitted as a caiman’s back.
My thoughts drift here when I pray to you,
to swollen water and lonely spit,
tide-risen belly of a mangrove god.

Every white...
Calf’s Tail
By Sangeeta Singh
Aji held onto the brown and black
patched calf’s tail
A pundit sang her mantra for
43 minutes
Years
Aji understood the calf would
lead her through oceans
into her next journey
My Aji and I
are alike
We have silver hairs
I am holding on to a dream tail
hoping it...
- Nature
- Animals
- Religion
- Other Religions
- Living
- Death
- Relationships
- Family & Ancestors
- Optimism
- + 2 more
Lingam Logos
By Cyril Dabydeen
What’s Godhead—
now standing upright,
fecundity no less
I tell you more about.

Phases of the moon, you see:
an auspicious moment I’ve
come to believe in with
Shiva or some other deity.

What Greece from antiquity
bestowed upon us with an
outsider named Sikander—
Alexander the Great going

to the Indus...
Hanuman Puja
By Rajiv Mohabir
Sunrise ocher marks
the river’s forehead,

wet dhotis betray supplicants
bare as opaque windows,

their secrets. It’s no secret,
my petals wreath

my crown in marigold, a glow
I’ve nursed into nova

when I cracked, from drought,
my pericarp, thirsty for God.

I have always been
a honey man,

coat of a...
Krishna, 3:29 AM
By Meena Alexander
In a crumpled shirt (so casual for a god)

Bow tucked loosely under an arm still jittery from battle

He balanced himself on a flat boat painted black.

Each wave as I kneel closer a migrant flag

A tongue with syllables no script can...
Flying
By Chinua Achebe
Something in altitude kindles power-thirst
Mere horse-height suffices the emir
Bestowing from rich folds of prodigious turban
Upon crawling peasants in the dust
Rare imperceptible nods enwrapped
In princely boredom.

I too have known
A parching of that primordial palate,
A quickening to manifest life
Of a long recessive...
Stepping Stones
By Albert Wendt
Our islands are Tagaloaalagi’s stepping stones across Le Vasa Loloa
small and frail but courageous enough to bear his weight and mana

high enough to keep us above the drowning and learning
how to navigate by the stars currents and the ferocity...
Genesis
By Mary Ruefle
Oh, I said, this is going to be.
And it was.
Oh, I said, this will never happen.
But it did.
And a purple fog descended upon the land.
The roots of trees curled up.
The world was divided into two countries.
Every photograph taken in the...
From “Semele”
By Elizabeth Campbell
There was terror already
in her love even before
she knew for sure her lover was the god.

Her forehead
skidded a little on the sweat
of his chest and close to his ear

Semele begged again for proof.
And it didn’t feel like a myth or...

Quick Tags

Explore Poems: Other Religions

from The Hymn to Inanna

From “Anagrams” [xxv]

The Dice Changer

Implications of the Last Hecatomb

Interactive :: House Saints

kālī mahāmāyā

Curvilinear

What Lights Up...?

Black Notes on Genre for My Beloved

Map

the night I fucked the border patrol agent

Petitioning the Patron Saint of Childbirth

Calf’s Tail

Lingam Logos

Hanuman Puja

Krishna, 3:29 AM

Flying

Stepping Stones

Genesis

From “Semele”

from The Hymn to Inanna

poetry-magazineFrom “Anagrams” [xxv]

The Dice Changer

Implications of the Last Hecatomb

poetry-magazineInteractive :: House Saints

poetry-magazinekālī mahāmāyā

poetry-magazineCurvilinear

poetry-magazineWhat Lights Up...?

poetry-magazineBlack Notes on Genre for My Beloved

poetry-magazineMap

poetry-magazinethe night I fucked the border patrol agent

poetry-magazinePetitioning the Patron Saint of Childbirth

poetry-magazineCalf’s Tail

poetry-magazineLingam Logos

poetry-magazineHanuman Puja

poetry-magazineKrishna, 3:29 AM

Flying

poetry-magazineStepping Stones

poetry-magazineGenesis

poetry-magazineFrom “Semele”

From “Anagrams” [xxv]

Interactive :: House Saints

kālī mahāmāyā

Curvilinear

What Lights Up...?

Black Notes on Genre for My Beloved

Map

the night I fucked the border patrol agent

Petitioning the Patron Saint of Childbirth

Calf’s Tail

Lingam Logos

Hanuman Puja

Krishna, 3:29 AM

Stepping Stones

Genesis

From “Semele”