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Crone: a poem by Shikhandin

1st June 20221st June 2022  Shikhandin

In this vivid, resonant poem, the ageing body is mirrored in the archetype of the crone – old woman, wise woman, goddess.

Crone

You see her. Unwise. 

Strapped

into her failing

body. Whispers

of white hair. Unsaintly

halo. Thighs 

rebelling against 

the weight. Revolted

by leaky creaky 

knees. Sunshine

days are past. Blind.

Blind to her

despair, 

you laugh crookedly,

as you leave

gripping the rails

beside the toilet seat.

She sees you. Mirror-wise.

You apply

mascara, muted berry

lipstick. Hushed blush vanishing

at ear point. Careful

fingers touching hair.

Her compassionate eyes

guide you through

the ritual.

About Shikhandin

Shikhandin is the pen name of an Indian writer. Books include “After Grief – Poems” (Red River, India), “Impetuous Women” (Penguin-Random House India), “Immoderate Men” (Speaking Tiger), and “Vibhuti Cat” (Duckbill-Penguin-Random House India). Honours include, runner up George Floyd Short Story Contest 2020 (UK), Pushcart nominee by Aeolian Harp (USA) 2019, Pushcart nominee by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (Hong Kong) 2011, Winner 2017 Children First Contest curated by Duckbill in association with Parag an initiative of Tata Trust, First Prize Brilliant Flash Fiction Contest 2019 (USA), Runner up Erbacce Poetry Prize (UK), Winner 35th Moon Prize (Writing in a Woman’s Voice: USA), First Runner up The DNA-OoP Short Story Contest 2016 (India), Second Prize India Currents Katha Short Story Contest 2016 (USA), First Prize Anam Cara Short Fiction Competition 2012 (Ireland), Long list Bridport Poetry Prize 2006 (UK), Finalist Aesthetica Poetry Contest 2010 (UK). Shikhandin’s prose and poetry have been widely published in India and abroad in online and print journals and anthologies.

Artwork by Sara Rivers

This poem was submitted for our latest mini-series, Our Body’s Bodies

Everything is written on the body – but what does it mean to write about our bodies in the era of Covid-19? And is it possible to write about bodily experiences in the face of such pervasive and continued violence? Using different modes of writing and art making, Lucy Writers presents a miniseries featuring creatives whose work, ideas and personal experiences explore embodiment, bodily agency, the liberties imposed on, taken with, or found in our bodies. Beginning from a position of multiplicity and intersectionality, our contributors explore their body’s bodies and the languages – visual, linguistic, aural, performance-based and otherwise – that have enabled them to express and reclaim different forms of (dis)embodiment in the last two years. Starting with the body(s), but going outwards to connect with encounters that (dis)connect us from the bodies of others – illness, accessibility, gender, race and class, work, and political and legal precedents and movements – Our Body’s Bodies seeks to shine a light on what we corporally share, as much as what we individually hold true to.  

Bringing together work by artistic duo Kathryn Cutler-MacKenzie and Ben Caro, poet Emily Swettenham, writer and poet Elodie Rose Barnes, author Ayo Deforge, writer and researcher Georgia Poplett, writer and poet Rojbîn Arjen Yigit, writer and researcher Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou and many others, as well as interviews with and reviews of work by Elinor Cleghorn, Lucia Osbourne Crowley and Alice Hattrick, Lucy Writers brings together individual stories of what our bodies have endured, carried, suffered, surpassed, craved and even enjoyed, because…these bodies are my body; we are a many bodied being. Touch this one, you move them all, our bodies’ body.

We also welcome pitches and contributions from writers, artists, film-makers and researchers outside of the Lucy Writers’ community. Please inquire for book reviews too. 

For submissions relating to trans and non-binary culture email dytorfrankie@gmail.com

For poetry submissions email elodierosebarnes@gmail.com

For reviews, prose submissions, artwork and general inquiries email hannah.hutchings-georgiou.16@ucl.ac.uk

Submissions are open from 6 January 2022 until the end of April 2022.
For the full Call Out, click here.

Feature image: Cell (Eyes and Mirrors), 1993 by Louise Bourgeois under fair use

Posted in Creative Writing, PoetryTagged: Ageing, My Body's Bodies Editorial, Poetry

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