Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Sonder

My poem was recently published in Issue 2 of Sugar Rascals!


Sonder (n). the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own

a crowded, rambling street, beggars with
blood-stained beards and trembling children
with snot-encrusted fingers reaching
out for ten rupees. heart blooming with pity,
i plunge my fingers into my back pockets, hoping
that i just bought them a meal. a girl
with gleaming hair and a car bends over
the steering wheel, while girls with babies slung
over their necks peer in, tapping
the tinted windows. showing a malnourished baby
barely conscious, puckered lips and bones poking out
of scabbing skin. they curse when the window doesn’t
open, when a manicured knuckle doesn’t reach out,
resist the temptation to pelt that sleazy vehicle with rocks
and watch bits fall off in a bloody skirmish.
Earlier that week, she had watched her father lose
his lifelong battle, her sister run out of tears and be left
with nothing more than a weary sigh. but they didn’t
know, to them she was an overfed, slinky brat enmeshed in the
trappings of luxury. she steps out of the car five hours later,
sees yolk trickling down its sides, the back window
smashed into splinters, silver scratches against the
vibrant pink backdrop. she knows that the universe
is conspiring against her, tries to kill herself. the
atmosphere is infused with hate. sonder is a
beautiful word.

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