‘Arrive’ by Shloka Shankar

Trouble
by Elise Rothenhoefer

Arrive

“When you pray, what do you think / you’ll see?” 

                                                             – Alice Walker

I’ve found myself
                 always walking &

never                                 arriving—

a mirror of loss
shatters in the desert

of my knees;

crawling, language 
mutates 
into thank yous 
               when nobody is 
               listening.    


Shloka Shankar is a writer and visual artist from Bangalore, India. A Best of the Net nominee, her poems and artwork are forthcoming in talking about strawberries all of the time, NationalPoetryMonth.ca (AngelHousePress, 2020), Contemporary Haibun OnlineAcorn, and Kissing Dynamite among others. Shloka is the founding editor of Sonic Boom, its imprint Yavanika Press, and Senior Editor at Human/Kind Journal


Elise Rothenhoefer is a visual artist, animal lover, and justice advocate.  She manages a graphic design business, Magic Bean Designs. Elise lives in the wilds of Southern Florida with her husband, 3 children, 4 cats, 2 dogs, and 3 hermit crabs.