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Half-Shut Eyes
poetry by Shawn Anto
Half-Shut Eyes
“Immigrants from India first arrived in the United States in small numbers during the early 19th century, primarily as low-skilled farm laborers. In recent decades the population has grown substantially, with 2.4 million Indian immigrants resident in the United States as of 2015. This makes the foreign born from India the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans, accounting for almost 6 percent of the 43.3 million foreign-born population.”
there’s no such thing as the promised land
but we promise that the grass turns into fruit
on the other side, we pray for guidance.
eternity spools itself over a glittering river
much cleaner than Ganga, but much less holy
I’ve prayed for entire monsoons, sunlight gashes
out side these eyes are golden, each brown body
becoming a good assimilated being, much yes
much no, how do you know how our birds sing?
the tusk of this hymn, much smoother than I’m used to
a splintered crown, embedded with thorns, black &
pulsing in, ideas are flowing down to another sea
rain comes down faster than our educated youth
so many of them in your face, believe in a kingdom.
a soft-cut gem, trails a body fully shut to itself
or embracing a new land, told if we don’t belong
who is involved in every thread, whirring in your
universe, how deep do we get, cutting irony out of
these mountains of uncertainty, these seeds
grow into this sacred forest or something close to
what we know back home.
Shawn Anto
Shawn Anto is 23 years old from Bakersfield, California. He’s originally from Kerala, India. He currently studies at Cal State Bakersfield looking to receive his B.A. in English & Theatre. His writing has been featured or are forthcoming in The Paragon Press, Edify Fiction, Susan/The Journal, Internet Void, Ink & Voices and Mojave Heart Review.