Debarshi Mitra

Abscissa

All that’s here

is already
in the process

of vanishing.
What was once spoken

coils back
into itself.

You remember
the first utterance:

those slender fingers
in the dark

once sighted years ago
through a window,

absently peeling

an orange
in afternoon light.

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Debarshi Mitra’s debut book of poems, Eternal Migrant, was published in 2016 by Writers Workshop. His second book, Osmosis, was published by Hawakal in 2020. His works have previously appeared in anthologies like Kaafiyana, Wifi for Breakfast and Best Indian Poetry 2018 and in journals like The Scarlet Leaf Review, Thumbprint, Guftugu, The Seattle Star, The Pangolin Review, Leaves of Ink, The Sunflower Collective, Coldnoon, Indiana Voice
Journal, The Indian Cultural Forum, among others. He was the recipient of the The Wingword Poetry Prize 2017, the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize 2017 and was twice longlisted for the TFA Prize.