Uma Dwivedi is a student at Yale University, an ardent lover of female pop, and a frantic margin scribbler. Their previous publications include Mouth Dreams: Winter Tangerine, Picaroon Poetry, Astral Projections: The Starstuff Collection, Right Hand Pointing, and Navigating the Maze; They are also a poetry editor for Persephone's Daughters and a poetry reader for Winter Tangerine; previously, they participated in The Adroit Journal's summer mentorship program and were a finalist in Write Bloody Press's 2017 manuscript competition. This is their first chapbook. They want you to live your best life.
This is an ode
/ to the tenderness of oceans / to how salt bites our bones / to shards / this is an ode / to the dark underbelly of water / & how Uma slips a palm under the Mariana / & peels the ocean from its depths / this is an ode / to girls / with different shades of night staining their fingers / to girls / digging their hands into cliffs of salt / & demanding more / this is an ode / to girls / this is an ode / to Uma / trying to embrace her darkness / her skin is always an enemy / she has too many memories with / to ever truly defeat / this is an ode / to sand / to the science of crumbling / & the art / of helping something peel apart / this is an ode / to the tenderness of teeth/