Thank you to Editor Siddharth Sehgal for publishing my poem in Indian Periodical.

http://indianperiodical.com/2020/10/tight-clasp-not-yet-undone/

Tight Clasp Not Yet Undone

The melodies we revere,

so tightly float

around our fears

of what might happen to us

should we stop

intoning our spirituals.

These songs, pipe dreams

used while we illude

within our fool’s paradise.

Music as alchemy, to transform

spells of fear and dread,

into freedom

from diseases and accidents.

So, we continue to sing,

hoping to turn chants into mighty protection,

as a roof against a rain.