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Holometabolous, Mandira Pattnaik


my sixteen pairs of twins

are upon the acacia branches

unfed, unclean

wrapped in muslin, mummified bodies

talking to themselves of trespassing

our neighbor’s bodies,

stealthily, at the point unguarded,

and then,

living pupal lives

unadorned, rudimentary,

until the

folds come off

and like extracted dividends,

or bridges between here and tomorrow

carry them

to the future of our species.


I’ll probably only flip the yellowing pages, turn them over,

in my garden of weeds,

for I may die accused of sorcery, but

I loathe repeating mistakes.


***


 

Mandira Pattnaik's recent poems have appeared in Prime Number Magazine, Not Very Quiet, West Trestle Review, Variant Lit, Feral Poetry, Thimble Lit and Eclectica Magazine. She also writes fiction and essays. Find her on Twitter @MandiraPattnaik

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