ophelia's last lover
sameen shakya
Was the river that carried her madness
To its natural end.
But what’s not said in the myths
Is how the river tried its best to assuage
The rotten claws of death
To leave her body looking lithe
And full of life up until
The sea could swallow it whole.
Not for nothing. Not for no one,
The river felt it was a shame
That beauty could be swallowed whole
By death as soon as breath went stale.
In its own way, it wanted to be a poet,
And lacking hands, or even a voice,
It tried the next best thing it had,
Magic, and undid death for a bit.
Though no one saw it. Except the nymphs.
Sameen Shakya’s poems have been published in Alternate Route, BOMBFIRE, Havik, WINK, and Teach Write, to name a few. Born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, he moved to the USA in 2015 to pursue writing. He earned an Undergraduate Degree in Creative Writing from St Cloud State University and traveled the country for a couple of years to gain a more informal education. He returned to Kathmandu in 2022 and is currently based there.
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