Confluence

Nidhi Agrawal

On the riverfront steps Cream of the lotus’ top petals departed Shapeless anatomy, Opaque sepal, Free-floating stamens, Rhodonite stigmas crushed Under the snooty buckskin, Death. On the cemented holy scaffolds, Clay lamps burn in oil Double-edged cotton wicks, The light conquers the murk Native to the blue devils, Native to the angels New flame is small, Transparent, whirling and, Blue and interweave With the zephyr. Rebirth. Perhaps underneath the Common space Shared between birth and death, Lotus petals unfold, Clay lamps melt, Beelzebub rises to eternity, Heart’s tributaries flow into the stream for Confluence.

Nidhi Agrawal, who grew up in India, focuses on issues of emotional and physical trauma in her poetry. She strongly believes that poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder; a tool that keeps her going in life and is driven by the intense physical and emotional trauma she has encountered through her medical condition.

Nidhi’s writings have been featured by the Laurel Review, Inscape Journal, Packingtown Review, Altadena Poetry Review, Yugen Quest Review, Quadrant Australia, Girl Talk HQ, eShe Magazine, University of California, Riverside, Say it Forward, Chicago School of Arts, Lewis Clark State College’s literary journal, St. Francisco University’s journal, The Elevation Review (Kneeland Poetry Inc.), The Dillydoun Review, Xavier Review Press, the California State Poetry Society, Signal Mountain Review: The University of Tennessee, Chronogram Magazine, Letters (Yale University), Setu Journal, Spill Word Press South Asian Today, Indian Periodical, Rising Phoenix Review, Life in 10 Minutes Press, Ariel Chart, Women's Web, Women for One, Lekh, Garland Magazine, and Muse India. She is the author of "Confluence" and one of the contributors to Suicide Volume 2.