Overstayed my welcome again buzzed
another light body half empty convinced
myself it is brimmed half full 
enough for another round to oscillate 
back and forth play words on loop.
If you want me, I’ll be at the bar. 

Contort myself into an itch you will scratch
when the needle nestles into the vinyl grooves 
of a smooth bar classic warning me to go home.
The smiles turn into cries, it’s the same release.

Let me hear the record one more time
remind myself I know the path to your left hip
bones that undo into shivers under my touch.
Put your hands on me, you can handle me.

Teach me how to bring you to your knees
while I store confessions in the soft of my cheeks
as I walk myself out, time to find home again.
It’s not worth it if I can’t touch the ground.

(with lines from Joni Mitchell, HAIM, MUNA, & Maggie Rogers)

Shivani Kumar is a poet from Worcester, Massachusetts. Her work is guided by her passion of connection to destinations, opportunities, and self. Her poems pull a reader into a world where they can find themselves arriving to emotions and memories that are limitless and can nurture healing in a world that often does not create the necessary time and space for such renewal. She is currently working on her first poetry book that holds themes of community, belonging, grief, and identity as a Tamil-American woman. Her work can be found in Chicago’s South Side Weekly’s The Exchange column and Sixty Inches from Center, and forthcoming in Sarka Publishing. She resides in Chicago, Illinois where you can find her attending poetry open mics, buying yet again another book, or exploring the breathtaking lake front.

You can reach her online:

Twitter: @shivanikumarpoet

Email: shivanikumarpoet@gmail.com