contrapuntal for a november birthday 33.64414063919488, -117.57414150416206

the snow is always excited to see you,

clinging to your legs in a mad rush like a child.

what sounds!

jewels twinkling over the roofs of the city- windchime wilderness.

the body is what coalesces in constancy,

so you become the relic

red brick.

you are a monument

at night

when every left turn should lead you home,

none ever do.

out of reach, the wheat chaff that floats in the wind

the sealed salt crystal

the molten sun

the eucalyptus dripping from high rafters

 

but to touch

what quiet sounds like

how warm peace used to be-

 

a palatial forgetting onto which the snow settles in great drifting sheaves,

taunting with its impermanence, a child. 

to move-

does it take a body?

no, just the memory is enough.

Vaidehi Bhardwaj, artwork by Nala Williams

Vaidehi Bhardwaj is a first year majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy and (hopefully!) leadership & public policy. She loves to dance, hang out with friends, listen to music (Jungle, The Drums, Grimes, TV Girl, alt-J, Lana del Rey), and eat :)

Hello there! I’m Nala :) I am a second year, majoring in Architecture with a minor in Dance. My works are a reflection of my journey as a young Black woman, told through a mixture of art and design mediums. Along with this, my creations are a way of sharing the stories that have and continue to shape me into who i am today.

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On Longing and Staying: Reflections on Three Generations of Vietnamese, 50 Years After The War