NEETU MALIK

NEETU MALIK

THROUGH THE CRACKS

Under a thick-padded rooftop

so grey it could be night or day--

she wouldn't know unless

she checks the clock

in the city square.

Home is the street

since she couldn't

pay rent and ran out of dole--

dough that always runs out;

stretches thin until it dissolves,

and food stamps have gone cold--

warm suppers don't come cheap;

only the hungry know

that soup kitchens run out faster

when the line moves slow

and you are still standing

where you were two hours ago

on the pavement as grey as the sky

she slumps,

slips through its cracks.

© Neetu M.

FALLIBLE

We are wounded

by design;

I know you conceal

unhealed wounds inflicted

by others who have

abrasions of their own

my rough edges stab you

in your core, but

I am not

made of stone.

I bleed too,

when I am struck

or hit the wall;

scrapes go deeper

than you can see

because I am human;

crafted with frailties,

not promised to be

free of flaws.

©Neetu M.

A Farewell

You stood in the rain,

watched me leave

by the last train on

a wet winter’s eve.

Our snowed-in dreams

frosted and iced

a window pane

on the wrong side.

I saw your hand

wave to me,

your silhouette carved

in my memory.

The whistle blew

through gloom and chill,

wrenched me from you—

time is frozen still.

©Neetu M.

For Neetu, poetry is an expression of the rhythms of life and the human spirit, which strike different beats depending on the sounds and silences generated by experiences. She shares her writing on a few different platforms and is a frequent guest contributor to the Australia Times Poetry Magazine. She has also been published twice in The Poetic Bond Anthology, edited by Trevor Maynard, UK and published by Willowdown Books. Neetu lives in Pennsylvania, USA.