. For my mother & grandmother
After the prayer, a thousand rivers erupt. Mothers name each river an epistemology
derivation from the name of their child. When a faint prospect of light ensues
mothers understand the need for shelter a distant birdcall from beyond the hills.
how one fire
. transfers into another
. and creates a row of lights from a single wick
the problem with bones
is they won’t cradle us
without the presence
of a spirit embodying—
I chant / the name of my mother / repeatedly like a
bowstring of roses / pushed into the world. /
Mothers thread aubade / into crystalline frost / and welcome birds / in a language unknown. /
Hickory nuts have begun descent / which means it is now autumn. /
When mothers go flower-gathering / at night / they stop downriver /
near the constellation of mogra plants. / Let us
call the force of river streams / a premonition / for more than what we know.
Sneha Subramanian Kanta
Sneha Subramanian Kanta is a writer from Canada. She is a recipient of The 2022 Digital Residency at The Seventh Wave. She is the author of Ghost Tracks (Louisiana Literature Press, 2020). Her work has appeared in The Carolina Quarterly, Pleiades, Muzzle Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the founding editor of Parentheses Journal. www.snehasubramaniankanta.com
