The Binary Catalogue of Loss

By Kashiana Singh

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emptied trees                                  raking season
your scrubbed body                       writing obituaries
in fading light                                  for my family

nautical twilight                              repotting
framing your face                            I dig deep into
in my hands                                      my dirt

corpse flower                                   endless sky
swallowed suns                                the perfect shape
of tomorrow                                     of an open palm

knotweed                                     	   soup season
your presence choking                   costco sized bag
my presence                                     of mini crackers

sparrow nest                                     subtle pulsating
folding the laundry                          of a flat fontanelle
after funerals                                    no moon yet

long sunset                                        hollowed sky
a stranded necklace                         another astrologer
of planets                                           blames Saturn

stained glass                                      inked sky
how light is light                               my eyes squinting
in your albireo	                             at your darkness

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When Kashiana Singh is not writing, she lives to embody her TEDx talk theme of Work as Worship into her every day. Her second full-length collection, Woman by the Door, was released in 2022 with Apprentice House Press and her newest full-length collection, Witching Hour, is coming out in 2024 with Glass Lyre Press. She proudly serves as President for North Carolina Poetry Society and Managing Editor for Poets Reading the News.

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• 12/12 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Nicole Cooley + local writer Caroline Cabrera / The Gallery at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free

• One workshop remains in our Workshop Series--SWWIM Lessons: From Prompt to Placement: “Surfing Submittable with Jen Karetnick – Keeping your head above water in the poetry submissions process” on 12/10 (register here). Price: $80/workshop. Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (EST). Where: Zoom.

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