SANJHEE GIANCHANDANI

 

SANJHEE GIANCHANDANI 

Travelling Solo

What is this entire fad about

travelling alone, thought I

exploring cities and posting

pictures of the same

I'm not interested if appreciation

on social media is final aim

But then the clockwork mouse

horrified me in a dream;

Its shiny teeth glimmered in the

dark and running on the needles

it screeched and squealed

I packed my bags and set

out to another city

The planning side of me

shrugged and called it a pity

for sudden plans were never me

but there was no other way

that this could ever be

So, set on a turbulent flight

battling all inhibitions

lied at home and work, but

those were necessary pre-conditions

and reached a brand-new place

looked around, searching for my space

the panopticon view of the city amazed

Now I knew what it all entailed

gathering new experiences and

washing away sorrows

packing joys and gaining

clarity for promising tomorrows

 

 

Every Time

Every time you do this to me, I bleed tears

every time you do this to me, I fall on my knees

When you do this to me

the work desk is red

and when all of this happens

a public breakdown I dread

lost in places unknown, I wander

inside of insides, I wait for a beep

I know a futile long wait and I'm alone

wandering the city streets and absorbing

whatever little I can or more

I want to be lost in the expanse of things

I want to scream in open fields

every time you do this to me, I try to run

but the faster I run, the closer my

heartbeat feels, the more cry again

the more my heart grieves

for if this is called love

then I don’t know what is not.

 

 

Hold On

When days become tedious collections of hours

and when laughter seems to dissolve in the

background.

what do fortune-tellers tell you then?

Past, present and future mingled in a web of

pain and happiness

your soul scattered around in the cosmos

and eyes stare into the stardust waiting

to realise and be realised by you

Identification ceases to exist

Bizarre thoughts cloud your mind.

How does one then put oneself together; piece for piece

By being distracted in the mundane as well as the

more profound of arts

for your happiness is only in your hands

life does change with the spell of a magic wand

When the horizon is washed in gold

All you need to do is hold on.

 

SANJHEE GIANCHANDANI

  

SANJHEE GIANCHANDANI holds a Masters’ degree in English from Lady Shri Ram College for Women and a CELTA from the University of Cambridge. She worked as an English language assessment specialist. Her love for publishing brought her to her current job as an ELT editor in the K-8 space. She compulsively writes poetry to fill in the interstices in her day and to streamline the chaos in her head. Her poems have been published in several anthologies, magazines and journals notable ones including including Muse India, Madras Courier, eFiction India, LiveWire, Setu, Indian Ruminations, Borderless Journal, Learning and Creativity, Otherwise Engaged Journal and Poetry Northern Ireland.