by Uma Gowrishankar
Bio (Psi)
Hello, hi. To capture
one’s self over and despite
distance is the telos of today.
Or it’s cancer. Or an end
to inequity. What? Let’s try
that again. Hello: hi. Apologies.
This is me. I am trying to capture
and taxidermy and then (and thus)
display me. One must imagine
Narcissus lonely. What? Jesus.
Hello. Hi. Again: according
to Barthes, long-distance communication
is inevitably a prolonged departure.
I am leaving you, the lover says,
regardless of what words he in fact
says. I am fine, a boy (Nate) says,
raising a gun to his head. This is
a message. I am sending it to you.
Hello; hi. This is me. Do I make
myself clear? My love (and loss)
amounts to a small thing. Continue
curing cancer. In fact, if you have time,
search for it inside me. And when
you find it, if you find it, leave it be.
Colin Lubner writes (in English) and teaches (math) in southern New Jersey. His work has either appeared or will appear, temporally speaking. Recent pieces can be found through his Twitter: @no1canimagine0. He is keeping on keeping on.
Uma Gowrishankar is a poet and artist from Chennai, South India, and has been painting longer than she has been writing. When she journals her travels, she chooses watercolors to capture the moment and is realistic or impressionistic in style; when she expresses ideas, her style is expressionistic. She wishes to create narratives where space and form explore layers of meaning. She blogs her artwork at https://mauvesea.wordpress.com/