.png)
Thaathaa
by Divya Venkat Sridhar (Switzerland)
May 2023
Audio: “Thaathaa,” read by Divya Venkat Sridhar
My papa’s papa used to run after the wooden cart of prasadam
Young feet bleeding over the rough road. I like to imagine his eyes:
bright like a brown beetle, fresh like monsoon soil,
his chest burning like metal on metal as he gulps dusty air.
He’s wearing sandbag shorts, mottled with flecks of dirt.
He’s hurdling red rock and plastic bottles, blooming like a wild indigo,
Stomach roaring in his lame body.
His small hands are cupped and trembling, so empty they could hold
a Ganges of riches, a Yamuna of flooding wealth—
only a thin paper cup of rice lands in his fingers.
I like to imagine the summer when we go to Hyderabad now:
He holds my hair, and I feel the lines in his palms
Like parted sediment along a freshwater river.
He likes to laugh until his beetle eyes fly off into the clouds
and his face goes wrinkly like pottery on an unmanned wheel.
And when he cooks, he lays out food and food and colours
Rushing around the big table to fill our hearts
With cardamom and cinnamon and cloves—his love language,
Grown from a tongue once parched in poverty.
I like to imagine he’s waited for this his whole life, and this pride
takes root in me like the eternal warmth of a sunlit sky.
His feet carry me over rough road, rock and rubble,
Until river, liquid gold breaks out from under his toes
like a lullaby.
Divya Venkat Sridhar, age 16, is a poet who lives in Switzerland. She loves to write about who she is, the people she loves, and the experiences she’s enjoyed. When she’s not writing, Divya loves playing the saxophone, making pasta, or singing the La La Land soundtrack at the top of her lungs.
Are you a young writer who wants to be published in Write the World Review, or is there a young writer in your life (relative, friend) who should be published in Write the World Review? Learn how here!
Clare
5/26/23, 6:23 AM
Congratulations Claire - this is a powerful piece - this feeling of a yearning for a home that may not even exist anymore will be something that everyone who lives outside of their original homeland will resonate with. Well done.
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Love the words I mean the way you coin the letters bravo! And also a fellow Nigerian as well good luck
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Love the words I mean the way you coin the letters bravo! And also a fellow Nigerian as well good luck
Akinlose Emmanuel
5/24/23, 11:04 AM
An amazing piece, quite figurative and exciting to read.
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:18 AM
It's staggering just how many topics this poem can apply to. Very eye opening. 10/10
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:14 AM
Although it may seem simple on the surface it is quite charming to see just how much thought and effort was put into understanding how a cat acts and thinks.
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:10 AM
I liked how even though each line was different it always came back to the central theme.
Sarah Parker
4/28/23, 3:01 PM
This was a wonderful piece to read. I can't imagine haven't been told about periods and sex. I was in fifth grade when I took a class. And even then, there were things they left out. This was a really important topic to write about. Great job!!
Sarah Parker
4/28/23, 3:01 PM
This was a wonderful piece to read. I can't imagine haven't been told about periods and sex. I was in fifth grade when I took a class. And even then, there were things they left out. This was a really important topic to write about. Great job!!