By: Kashiana Singh

Compare and contrast

She lived a flower arrangement routine
Details, twines, pin holder perfection
I box flowers in confused bursts
tiger lily’s unabashedly preen
peony’s skip in affection
embarrassing edges wilt with thirst
 
She taught with the skills of a practitioner
Brought a capable introverted stability
I teach work as worship
agile, evolving as an exhibitioner
bursting in interaction vs her brevity
my motherhood an entrepreneurship
 
She was preceded by the fragrance of her reputation
Herbs, sauces, mixes framed a culinary infrastructure
I cook in random experiments
my pots and pans fighting a rescue operation
my hands knead batter but are trained to sculpture
time affordability not allowed to be an impediment
 
She converges us to a canter, I signal a divergence
She distils our opinions, I extricate through absorption
She is the window to my space, I hold the door to their dreams
She sacrifices with regulation, I indulge to test rebellion

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I dare you

I dare you to let me live again
I dare you to heal your amnesia
I dare you to look into my tears 
I dare you to bear being alone
I dare you to die without regret
I dare you to cross the last port of entry
 
disappearing into windowless tents
I watch, your lethal aides come and go
As caravans move excruciatingly slow
tent to tent, growing miles of dissent 

I huddle under my red coat
and hope, the specter would keep away
souls astray, soles of my shoes, in fray
collective phobia, anger serves as our moat

puppet like from camp to camp
plunged from home to home, city to city
reclaiming my words, mapping a geometry
hardened wails are key to survival as a tramp

I dare you to let me live again
I dare you to heal your amnesia
I dare you to look into my tears 
I dare you to bear being alone
I dare you to die without regret
I dare you to cross the last port of entry

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Kashiana Singh, 51, is a management professional by job classification and a work practitioner by personal preference. Kashiana’s TEDx talk was dedicated to the topic – Work as Worship. She has deepened my belief in “Work is Worship” over nearly three decades of pursuing a regular mainstream “job”. Kashiana used her fascination for writing and teaching as life hacks to find the hidden moments of worship in daily tasks, chores, and duties. Her poetry collection, Shelling Peanuts and Stringing Words is written from the dual lens of a participant and an observer. She dips into very vulnerable and personal contexts but also explores the shifting tectonic plates of the world around her. Kashiana hails from India, lives in Chicago