inspire (v.)

Source:  

 An erasure culled out from Chapter 4 (pg. 42) of The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance, by Niranjan Navalgund.  


Note: First published in #theslideshow, Five 2 One Magazine, February 2017.

dangerous (adj.)

Source: 

An erasure culled out from Chapter 7 (pg. 64) of The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance, by Niranjan Navalgund.


Note: First published in the Fall issue (2016) of Erstwhile. 

winning (adj.)

Source: 

An erasure culled out from Chapter 6 (pg. 54) of The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance, by Niranjan Navalgund. 

The Key to Organizing Your Life

Borrow an excuse.

Start a new task.

Look at the empty pages

in a new notebook—

witness the intense beauty.

Rip out your first mistake, 

the line width of your jealously.

Get attached to a sharpened pencil

for no reason.

Source:

23 Things Anyone Who’s Slightly Obsessed With Stationery Has Secretly Done

Be

If I could be anyone,

who would I be?

It must be recognized quickly.

Looking for a black cat

in a coal cellar? Reporting

well-known faces?

Resolve the hook

of a random thought—

its redness.

Fortunately, there's a way.

I try to do whatever is best.

Sources:

The Complete Guide To Women's Golf, by Beverly Lewis (pg. 94)

Medical Emergencies in Dental Practice, by Stanley F Malamed (pg. 171)

The Singer in the Band, by Michele Breeze

The Adventures of Sally, P.G. Wodehouse (pg.80)

Mayakovsky's Revolver, by Matthew Dickman (pg. 58)

A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, by Mitch Albom (pg. 154)

The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (pg. 180)

1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagery and Its Meaning, by Jack Tresidder (pg. 235)

Cosmopolitan, April 2016

Method: 

I asked 10 of my friends to complete the following steps, and the poem was composed from the results:

1. Pick up a book that's closest to you. Magazine/novel.

2. Turn to a random page.

3. Choose either the left or right hand sides of the page.

4. Type out the first line.

5. Mention your source (title, author, pg. no.)

If the sentence is incomplete, it's fine. All I need is the first LINE of your random page. Even if it ends up having just 2 words.(My word bank was a total of 78 words.) 


Note: First published in The Sunflower Collective (Oct. 2016)

Undercurrent of Imperfection

We see through a glass darkly—

see more than we can understand.

Sacrifice symmetry

and a syrupy sentimentality

for the beauty of the living hour.

Pull the plug on it.

Look straight at the message—

the mess of faith and

commercially-packaged angst.

Source:

The Power of Perception and Critical Imagination: Alfred Kazin on Embracing Contradiction and How the Sacredness of Human Attention Shapes Our Reality

Chapter 4 of Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto 


Note: First published in The Sunflower Collective (Oct. 2016)

Am I Now I?

Change the way you 

think you're escaping

toward the blue and fuzzy,

bleeding into a wash. 

[Ask me not to say it.] 

 Awake from the night-

mare of I  

founded on a misconception— 

This place that is no place,

unspeakably alone,

where nothing happens

like cloud-shadows.   

Sources: 

Chaos Theory: A Unified Theory of Muppet Types by Dahlia Lithwick.

Quotes from Ulysses by James Joyce. 

The Best 100 Closing Lines from Books.

Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Chapter 1 of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.

Blueprints and Others by John Ashbery.


Note: First published in The Bangalore Review, December 2016.