In Memoriam — Keki Daruwalla: A Tribute, by Mrinalini Harchandrai
Wit in appropriate measure, sarcasm at the right moment — Mrinalini Harchandrai…
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From ULR
Issue 3 – Voice
Battle Number
Minor chords played while his hand struck her cheek, a brutal dance she always rejoined.
December 15, 2022
He took a swing at her
a whiskey-tinged record flew
in circles, Benny Goodman tom-tommed
in encouragement
like a Tom and Jerry scene
with hammer and chase.
Minor chords blinded his heart
he played her cheek
as the alto sax drew blood
over jazz standard strokes
teardrops fell on the deaf ears
of a self-obsessed clarinet.
The tenor of those evenings
we recorded in our gut
punch, thump, shake
rattled, she’d run into the street
but returned like the jitterbug
chorus, Sing, Sing, Sing
and he played that song over
and over.
📖
PART OF A COLLECTIONBattle Number and 2 other poems
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Mrinalini Harchandrai
Mrinalini Harchandrai is the author of ‘A Bombay in My Beat’, a collection of poetry. Her poem won first prize in The Barre (2017) and she was a finalist for the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize 2019. Her unpublished novel manuscript was selected as Notable Entry for the Disquiet International Literary Prize 2019. Her short fiction has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2018 and Columbia Journal Spring 2020 Contest. Her work has been anthologized in RLFPA Editions’ Best Indian Poetry 2018 and The Brave New World of Goan Writing (2018, 2020).