I AM NO MEDUSA

I speak to an empty world
apologetic pebbles
slip off uncertain lips
falling into an indifferent pond
a tentative lone ripple
subsiding instantaneously

I am an explorer
in an infinite galaxy
wading through lotuses
their beauty choking the surface
I rip them apart
exposing the murky layers
breeding such
exquisite perfection
l want to swallow the dirt
that will make me bloom

I ingest the wriggling words
slithering syllables
sibilant syntaxes
hoping they will consume
the fear residing in my bones

Now when I speak
perhaps the world will listen
as grown snakes
pour out of my mouth

but I am no Medusa
For I want to plant
flowers in your soul

By Uma Venkatraman 

Biography:

Born in India, and now living in Singapore, Uma Venkatraman is a journalist with a passion for poetry. Her poems have been published in anthologies such as Good Morning Justice, Poetic Trenches, Along The Shore, and online in the Pink Panther Magazine and the Plath Poetry Project’s December retrospective.