"What Grows Beneath the Ground" by Kunjana Parashar

What Grows Beneath the Ground

My mother unearths                her trauma
like a rodent uprooting radishes 

from a private garden.             It is reckless
and wild, her grabbing of grief. 

What crinkling of leaves,       such mess
of fine topsoil, &, the unforgivable 

crunch of that first bite,          and next,
and next. How quick this ransack

of a perfect garden.                 An early
retirement. A domestic haven. 

Kunjana Parashar

Kunjana Parashar lives in Mumbai, India. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in 45th Parallel, SWWIM Every Day, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Columba, Heavy Feather Review, and elsewhere. You can find her on Twitter @wolfwasp.

Headshot: Courtesy of Kunjana Parashar

Photo Credit: Staff