By: Priya Anand

A structure that is a portal into another world
An obsidian silence wrapped within its confines
Soles coated with carbon particles
Carry the DNA of those that have passed
Nano souls unwilling to break away from this mortal world
Refracted Sunlight traces lattice patterns on dead skin
Crimson glimmers behind black doors
Red veins dance across its cyclops eye as it opens
Anointed with sandal wood and frankincense
No more a mere body but a soul that
Merges into a larger stream of consciousness
The undeparted do not linger but are in a hurry to leave
Knowing that their next visit may be their last

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Priya Anand is Bangalore based and has started writing recently. Some of her work has been published in Spark, Bangalore Review and Bangalore Mag, The Brown Boat (Raedleaf Poetry India) and The Reading Hour. She works with a non profit that supports livelihood programmes for rural women from disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. She is a community member of the Bangalore Writers Workshop, a platform that enables emerging writers to share, critique and learn from each other’s writing.