Bio: Kushal Poddar, the author of ‘Postmarked Quarantine’ has eight books to his credit. He is a journalist, father, and the editor of ‘Words Surfacing’. His works have been translated into twelve languages. Twitter- https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe

Rot

All day I have been hearing my voice
ricocheting in the silent solstitial house.
It is like a mewling cat caught in a trough. 
We hear from every apartment until we do not.
And then we understand death. 

I used to keep a bowl of cat food
at the chut's mouth. The bowl had 'Hope'
inscribed on it. An overflow of ants 
startled me. The bowl was shattered. 
I washed my hands again and again,
opened the medicine cabinet, rattled
the orange vial of the pills all expired long ago. 

Rain Violence The shrapnel of rain struck against the tarpaulin of a makeshift shop pierce my state of being. All day, a day that…