in mumbai, i miss the chembur flyover. in rage, i fill
this paper, all blue error lines writing dumbfuck poetry,
isn’t enough. in your type, carly didn’t mean the sorry part,
maybe the love part, fragments of waking to 5 am texts.
the history - days when i don’t click a picture, no mirror?
lost my glasses at powai lake where frogs party over light bulbs.
to the dead contacts in my phone - some gone. won’t pick up
the phone. remember, what ifs aren’t regret. then there are…
flight takers - paragliders, taking to the skies. watch another
movie, drive tired - on tiring, empty roads. signals have no
meaning. letterboxes, the most. the movies - technicolor
world made out of music and machine - got me letterboxd.
fuck that dollar or your letter, i seek no words. sounds of
of pandemic or the quests undone. rewatch that movie,
sing that song on the way back. dream in that cinematic
universe. back to the days of stealth archery and sorcery.
today, i am restless. tomorrow, i will dry my hair in the sun.
Rajeev Anand Kushwah is a researcher-writer interested in queer experiences, feminist ethics of care, and masculinities. Currently working in Mumbai, they completed their under graduation in Political Science hons. from Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi) in 2020. They graduated with masters in Women’s Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai) in 2022 and were a participant at the international writing program’s summer institute, University of Iowa for the 2021–22 session. They have been the recipient of Mavelinadu Collective’s grant for non-fiction for the first issue of Debrahminising Gender. Their work can be found in EPW, Women’s Link Journal, Shuddhashar, Outlook, Gaysi and Hindu College Gazette, among others. They also love movies (particularly the horror genre), monuments, coffee, and dogs (all animals and insects tbh)! You can find them on Instagram/Twitter at @aqueerfailure and on letterbox at @workaholictwink.