Apple,
longing
and the length of our longing spread across
airport calls, free Wi-Fi zones,
over silhouettes and carcasses of cities, towns, countries
ripped apart by sea beds and ocean floors
its benign weight perched all over me.
When you called me from an unknown +61 number
I could’ve cried a bucket of tears
a tornado of happiness burst within me.
I felt like writing you a grocery list
a run across your apartment to buy—
8 eggs, a loaf of bread, tetra pack of milk,
honey, ketchup squeezy, bananas, berries, nuts—
I could go on but we spent our first Sunday apart
you, 5 hours wafted into the future, slumbering the jet lag away
and I, wondering if we’ll ever have those filmy breakfast dates.
I tossed 2 tablespoons of oats, shaved an apple off its skin
now, a breakfast smoothie of grated sin,
roasted oats, almond flakes, cold
milk and two teaspoons of instant coffee.
My tongue accepts bitterness before acknowledging it.
Thick with texture, it tastes of deep frosted emotions
as if desired relations can be sealed, zip locked, put away in plastic.
I pour it in a mason jar, gulp a big sip, and smile
you have a display picture on WhatsApp now
the taste of the apple swells in my mouth
you text me about your first dinner date.
Aekta Khubchandani is currently matriculating her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York. Her work has been featured in The Aerogram, Narrow Road, The Bangalore Review, Skylight 47, and elsewhere. Her recent poems are published in print in the anthology, Quesadilla and Other Adventures by Hawakal Prokashana, Best of Mad Swirl: 2018 by Mad Swirl, Map called Home by Kitaab, Singapore to name a few. Her works have been long-listed twice for Creative Writing in English by TFA (TOTO Funds the Arts)- 2018 and 2019. Her spoken word poetry has travelled in India and Bhutan. She secured the first place in Mumbai Regional Qualifier and the second place in the National Slam at Waves fest conducted by BITS Pilani Goa, in 2018. She also performed her poem, “I tried to look like Ma” at TedX Bocconi for her talk, “Fiction is the truth sold as lies.”
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