In the Belly of a Slovenly Crow
10/09/20 – 25/10/20
In the Belly of a Slovenly Crow
This is the belly
where I create a sanctuary.
This is the belly
where I come from,
I dwell,
I yearn for
and I reject.
It is also the belly of sticky desires,
where,
to save myself from becoming a digested pulp,
my only option is
inducing a certain kind of nausea
that hits an instinct in my carrier and makes him run.
Then, with the sound of repulse,
I am nothing but regurgitated cud
This is the belly of a slovenly crow,
who croaks lies through the night—
echoes of the same belly find a way out
through the fruit,
the vertebrae,
the flesh
and the undigested toffee wrappers
(all glitter, no gold).
But, apparently, in the clutter
of this impermeable belly,
I am to find the words
of an ancestral wisdom—
compressed light years
of births and rebirths.
-Shailee Mehta
Shailee Mehta
Those Who Came From Over The Horizon/ An Impending Anti-Climax
Oil on canvas
110cm x 75cm
2020