Family Ties

by Saumya Kedia

Family Ties

Some rats have been trying very
hard to get inside our home.
They’ve chewed through
exhaust fans to enter…
Littered our platform!
We have a daily bulletin so every family
member is up-to-date on this rat business.
My sister and I are in an argument about
who, Ratan Singh, the rat, should befriend.
My mother laughs at us, in relief, like parents do
when they learn their children are mostly good.
None of us consider killing the rats.
There’s too much death going around so
we’ve refused to lengthen the laundry list.
We don’t know whether Ratan Singh’s
alone or has a posse, but we’re more
confident about the latter, we like to
believe, he had help, as he worked
relentlessly on that exhaust fan.
Last night, we offered a piece of bread,
then more food, once it was fully eaten.

Saumya R. Kedia is a poet from Bangalore, India. She is working on her first manuscript of poems. She found poetry when there was nowhere else to go.

Subscribe to our newsletter To Recieve Updates

    The Latest
    • Matchbox by Usawa October‘25 Issue

      This edition of Matchbox by Usawa explores the patterns, customs, and structures

    • The Intimate Affair Of Mortality And Disgust

      A haunting meditation on death’s intimacy, despair, and allure

    • The Room Of A Parallel World

      Sohini Sen’s The Dandelions Have It blends nature, mind, and oneness

    • The Book of Death

      A child’s surreal grief: shame, scream, and haunted theatrical silence

    You May Also Like
    • Two Poems By Arya Gopi

      On the day of shame, a fanatic shot at history Religion was his pistol

    • Down to the Image: Fiction as Feminist Critique in the Arena of Reproductive Autonomy by Manasee Palshikar (nadi)

      “Don’t kill me” the foetus calls out from inside the uterus This plea for life