Singular Universe

“What you do not have you find everywhere.” — W. S. Merwin


Words harden in recollection.
Pull each one towards you,
cry like they seem evil.

Lay out some traps 
for half a dozen—it’s a craft:
fool an infinitive 
into holding out for hope.

You don’t need 
a permit to live inside your head—
put a foot on the ladder. 

Copy out a line:
the sounds of a singular 
universe being built.




Call to Action


A great deal of latitude
and an abundance of caution
can be an isolating experience—
what greater enemy does one have 
than oneself?

When the ink hits the screen,
it is an indispensable bit 
of programming—the totality 
of what you did or said

in the aboveground world. 


Source: A remix/cut-up composed from select words and phrases found between pages 11 & 60 of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.





The Creative Process 


Imagine the scent
of fine paper in summer—
a time when one’s taste exceeds 
one’s abilities.

To sense your decay
is not the same as loving it.
A bromide 

about the creative process 
is that you are often

nostalgic for a candy
you have never even tasted.

Or, to oversimplify, 
it is the erasure of mortality
in the sometimes-painful present. 



Source: A remix/cut-up composed from select words and phrases found between pages 20 & 86 of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.




A Rainbow Every Day 

for R


Carry off a little darkness
one piece at a time. 
I’ve been around for long—
there’s a reason why all sinners are saints.

You’ll know it’s me when I come 
through the road to happiness. 
Allow me to introduce myself—
a victim of the times,
the gods they made
of you and me.

We didn’t start the fire
and tell the world that everything’s okay.
What else do I have to say?
I can’t take it anymore.
The words inside my head—a blitzkrieg—
but what’s puzzling you?

I get a unicorn out of a zebra,
the truth from a thousand lies.
I erase myself, clean this slate
with the hands of a believer.

I can’t be what I’m not.
There’s a game called circle— 
as heads is tails.

I’d love to wear a rainbow every day.


Source: A remix/cut-up composed from lines and phrases from the following songs: “Sympathy for the Devil” by Rolling Stones, “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash, “One Piece at a Time” by Johnny Cash, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel, “Believer” by Imagine Dragons, “What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park, “No Matter What” by Boyzone, and “I’m Not Afraid” by Eminem.


Shloka Shankar is a poet, editor, and self-taught visual artist from Bangalore, India. A Best of the Net nominee and award-winning haiku poet, Shloka is the Founding Editor of Sonic Boom and its imprint Yavanika Press. Her debut full-length haiku collection, The Field of Why (Yavanika Press, India), was shortlisted for the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards 2022. Website: www.shlokashankar.com | Instagram: @shloks23