Portrait of Film as Nuclear Weapon

In which the first stroke is cataloguing ways to reimagine
death threats. Catching extravagance gleaming
in the precision of salivating mobs.

Arrows pared back, and determined to plunder. Questioning
how to pitch a tent between waterlogged cemeteries
and toxic spectacles.

School bus yellow, and highlighting a vision of
flamboyant repetition. Pitching a tent somewhere
between toxic masculinity and unfolding a spectacle.

Alternatively, another way to seduce tradition,
parallel an identity. Alternatively, another way to paint a country
to standstill.

By Rishika Aggarwal

Biography:

Rishika Aggarwal is a poet from Mumbai, India. She’s been reading for as long as she can remember, and dreaming of being a writer for about as long. Her work has been featured, or is upcoming, in The Rising Phoenix Review, Vagabond City Lit, Picaroon Poetry’s Deranged, and Sapphic Swan Zine. You can find more of her work in her blog, and at https://gumroad.com/rishwrites.