Small Flame Applying for Heaven
🔥
little faith
in a rented body
🔥
little hunger
dressed as purpose
🔥
little voice
saying chosen
chosen
chosen
the body says:
pain
the prayer says:
proof
the mirror says:
girl
god says:
static
🔥
she kneels
until the floor
starts believing
it has been blessed
🔥
she mistakes
burning
for being
answered
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
for one second
everyone sees
what she sees
then
only
smoke
Sushanth Shyamsundar is an Indian writer and poet based in Chennai. He performs spoken word as Rakshasan and writes across poetry, fiction, horror, comedy, queerness, family, memory, and the strange machinery of everyday life. His work often explores bodies, masks, refusal, tenderness, absurdity, survival, and the private rituals people build to keep going. He is the author of one poetry collection, with two more manuscripts in progress.
Amethyst Review 