To My Skype Friend

by Shalom Galve Aranas

Time is teeming within the walls

of your room in Italy

where I find you

again and again

almost in tears

as we hear the bells

of the churches

tolling simultaneously

In a burst

of sunrise

and birds alighting from

the shiny,

wet cobbled stones.

I sigh a relief

you still belong

to my world

where I intend to keep

you each day

until the day

we shall finally

meet for real,

my friend.



Shalom Galve Aranas is a freelance writer published in Enchanted Conversations, Stereo Stories, St. Andrews College, and elsewhere. She is a loving, single mother of two. Illustrated by Ramabhadran S., who is a 19-year-old artist based in Kerala’s Thalassery. He is a student of National Institute of Fashion Technology. 

The Silent stand-off epidemic

By Sukanya Basu Mallik

I’m writing in ordinary wording about how I feel,
I feel inadequate, disturbing, enraging,

The definition of a ‘loner’
Sad descriptions fit me well,
Will a tight-lipped resentment, therefore, be the end?

I’m writing in ordinary wording about how I feel,

I feel wounded, paralyzed and plainly bad
Like a ‘loner’ abandoned
Left with just silence, that’s just guaranteed!

Sad descriptions like I told you to fit me well,
Therefore, a tight-lipped resentment shall be the end!

Sukanya Basu Mallik has published in India and abroad including in Reader’s Digest, Sahitya Akademi Bimonthly Journal, Lucidity Int. Poetry Journal and AIPF Int. Anthology (Austin International Poetry Festival). She received The Best Manuscript Awards for fiction & non-fiction categories at the Mumbai Literature Festival. Illustrated by Ramabhadran S., who is a 19-year-old artist based in Kerala’s Thalassery. He is a student of National Institute of Fashion Technology.