a brief history of country conversation
once she wove her way through small towns
and villages, roadside shops and grimy front stoops.
honeyed enchantress—at times, she was gritty.
but haunts are not the same now—
adda can’t stay for long—her worshippers are gone
in a prolonged exodus. there’s a queue
for everything everywhere, even for time. especially time.
but that old hangout where the walls are papered over
with decades-old pamphlets and notices, where the
rust stain on the wall could be betel juice or
vestiges of a lost revolution—there—
invite her there to sit awhile for old times’ sake.
savor the mouthfeel of talk that meanders but finds
a home nearby. in dusty small towns, the stoops are
empty now. buxom, slow conversation is scrubbed
and sterilized. someone has snatched away her cup
of sweet chai and filled it with decorum.
and villages, roadside shops and grimy front stoops.
honeyed enchantress—at times, she was gritty.
but haunts are not the same now—
adda can’t stay for long—her worshippers are gone
in a prolonged exodus. there’s a queue
for everything everywhere, even for time. especially time.
but that old hangout where the walls are papered over
with decades-old pamphlets and notices, where the
rust stain on the wall could be betel juice or
vestiges of a lost revolution—there—
invite her there to sit awhile for old times’ sake.
savor the mouthfeel of talk that meanders but finds
a home nearby. in dusty small towns, the stoops are
empty now. buxom, slow conversation is scrubbed
and sterilized. someone has snatched away her cup
of sweet chai and filled it with decorum.
March 2025
Sayantani Roy works out of the Seattle area. She has placed work in Alan Squire Publishing Bulletin, Emerge Literary Journal, Gone Lawn, Grist (forthcoming), TIMBER, Wordgathering, and elsewhere. Her writing has been supported by AWP through their Writer-to-Writer Mentorship program. She is a Community TA for modpo.org on Coursera and reads poetry for Chestnut Review. Say hello on Instagram @sayan_tani_r.
Art: Claire Tang, Pushing Up Daisies. Oil on canvas.