Sharmila is so naïve
She can’t pick between prudence and courage
She flogs dead horses
She allows herself to be found traipsing through the tulips
She’s a slow unlearner
She loves her unteacher
She wants 364 unbirthdays
What she resists persists
She depotentiates herself, silly goose,
Until her soul screams,”STOP”
Sonali Gurpur writes poetry and fiction. Her poems were recently picked for the ‘Commended’ and ‘Highly Commended’ categories of the Margaret Reid Prize for Traditional Verse, and for the city wide reading at the Austin International Poetry Festival. Her short story “See With Your Eyes Not Just Your Heart” was finalist at Glimmertrain.