INA JAIN

★ ★ ★ ★

POETRY

WAYWARD PASSAGE

in the house of broken labyrinths
your weight on butterfly ashes
chimes of shattered shores
we got lost in the corridors of famished rains
that’s what happens every time
you get hurt
in the hallways of shelved surprises
I fetch up against wiped wrath

we are vikings without a ship
stripped portraits
scattered across phantom leaves
with nothing to wear
to call our own

no matter what it takes
stomp up the phantom leaves
no matter what it takes let’s play
this is for us
the way leads through locked chambers
woven in the fabric of missing doorsteps
rebellion of blue walls
you have them too

handles forged on cradle beats
I can’t help it
we are vikings without a ship
riding on phantom leaves
clad in firefly skin
we burn invisible
into the coming day

SOLAR STORMS

bookmarks of forsaken wanderers
when first blossoms grew into a beast
I wrote my name
on the chapters of the universe
for you to find

listening to the tempest unsung by kneeling hands
I mark you
in the furnaces of dying suns
above the wind you draw me in
on canvases composed for losing strings
you sketch me awake

petals of midsummer sobs
sharpened on the hum of raven wings
I see you engraved in every turn
in the garden of runaway suns
I keep you close
singeing the hem of glacier wrists
for you to find

bookmarks of forsaken wanderers
I wrote my name
on the chapters of the universe
to be startled by crying colours on your tongue

wrapped in lingering haste
out here on unchained angles
they tell us to put out the fires in unborn stars
bookmarks of forsaken wanderers
beside you on shifting breaths
tempted by the dance of unsung lanterns
I stand still in the furnaces of dying suns
hearing your whisper turning pages
I did it again
I wrote my name
on the chapters of the universe
for you to find

SPRING TIDE

now that the faces have rested their hands
I begin again my way across the wavering lights
to come undone in the spell of all you never knew
blessed by hidden days
I intended for you the ease of paths unwritten

now that you run untamed among the ruined statues
to touch the letters of scarred minds
you own the morning light
I wonder what it means to you
for I came across a promise made between the elements
to look for you on spinning plains

now that you chose the shadow over sunrise fires
I need to break my words on untamed monuments
the days of blazing skies
for you
they have a different name
now that you carry the legend of cursed armor
I want to bind that spell again
to keep your cheeks unlined by frowns of wandering lights

now that you take my hand
I long to bring you home to all you never knew
now that we run on our fingertips
collecting the dust of pages wiped
we share the morning light
the spell of all dividing firsts

now that you show me the morning light
has come alive
on the surface of your palms
I only ask for this
to be the one to pay the weight of turning wheels
for I need to break my words
now that the faces have shown their hands
to rest with you in the crevices between the hours
I begin again my way across the wavering lights
so you can see

now that we step out on missing doorsteps
we run again on wavering lights
the promise made between the elements
for the first time