Shikha Malaviya
Shikha Malaviya is a poet, writer, and publisher whose work bridges cultures and generations. Her latest book, Anandibai Joshee: A Life in Poems (HarperCollins India, 2023), reimagines the groundbreaking journey of India's first female physician through historical persona poetry. Her earlier collection, Geography of Tongues, explores themes of identity and belonging. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Shikha's poetry has appeared in Prairie Schooner, PLUME, Catamaran, and other distinguished journals. She was chosen as Poet Laureate of San Ramon, California (2016) and has been featured as a TEDx speaker. As co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a mentorship-model literary press, and a current Mosaic America Fellow, Shikha works to amplify diverse voices in contemporary poetry. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she guides emerging writers as a poetry mentor and workshop facilitator.
PAPER BOATS: A GAZA GHAZAL
There will be no love letters tonight in your city
only gauze flapping like ghosts tonight in your city
In a house with no roof and cracked windows
you read Darwish while sipping tears tonight in your city
Stars shine with abandon, as if nothing has happened
please kiss all the children goodnight who remain in your city
No silver bells, only mortar shells
the roads are long and hungry tonight in your city
Tearing squares of paper from discarded textbooks
they make paper boats and set sail tonight in your city
I kneel in prayer, hands turned towards the sky
wondering if God is there tonight in your city
There will be no love letters tonight in your city
only gauze flapping like ghosts tonight in your city
In a house with no roof and cracked windows
you read Darwish while sipping tears tonight in your city
Stars shine with abandon, as if nothing has happened
please kiss all the children goodnight who remain in your city
No silver bells, only mortar shells
the roads are long and hungry tonight in your city
Tearing squares of paper from discarded textbooks
they make paper boats and set sail tonight in your city
I kneel in prayer, hands turned towards the sky
wondering if God is there tonight in your city