Poetry by Sonika Jaiganesh
“To the fish (defrosting in the microwave), from me (consuming)”
By Sonika Jaiganesh
How long ago was it?
When I picked you, pulled you
from the timeless depths of the frozen aisle?
(You were reduced, past your sell-by)
Under the buzzing, ever-pale light,
I brushed off dry, unmelted frost,
And purchased you pre-sliced, preserved.
Now you spin pretty on a shallow plate—
Silver scales glisten gold
(The midas-touch of my microwave).
You could not have been more weightless:
when swimming endlessly in water.
You could not have been more still.
I suppose you’ll stew for tonight
(For my curry with today’s tea).
I could stir up the pot on the boil—
play with my food, cause currents.
You could swim once more
submerged in seas with sun-ripe canned tomato,
Soil-swole pre-diced onions,
And the breasts of birds, plucked straight from the sky.
- Sonika Jaiganesh learned how to raise chickens while toddling and became vegetarian promptly after (realising aged three, that there was no ‘great chicken farm in the sky’, and of the sordid truth behind a ‘chicken curry’). They are now attempting to live as both a university student and a vegan.
By Sonika Jaiganesh
How long ago was it?
When I picked you, pulled you
from the timeless depths of the frozen aisle?
(You were reduced, past your sell-by)
Under the buzzing, ever-pale light,
I brushed off dry, unmelted frost,
And purchased you pre-sliced, preserved.
Now you spin pretty on a shallow plate—
Silver scales glisten gold
(The midas-touch of my microwave).
You could not have been more weightless:
when swimming endlessly in water.
You could not have been more still.
I suppose you’ll stew for tonight
(For my curry with today’s tea).
I could stir up the pot on the boil—
play with my food, cause currents.
You could swim once more
submerged in seas with sun-ripe canned tomato,
Soil-swole pre-diced onions,
And the breasts of birds, plucked straight from the sky.
- Sonika Jaiganesh learned how to raise chickens while toddling and became vegetarian promptly after (realising aged three, that there was no ‘great chicken farm in the sky’, and of the sordid truth behind a ‘chicken curry’). They are now attempting to live as both a university student and a vegan.
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