A rot in the ribs - "Untitled" by Abhinav
BogiReads brings you the daily speculative reading recommendation of editor Bogi Takács.
Today's recommendation -
Author: Abhinav
Title: “Untitled”
Venue: The Deadlands, December 2023 (ed. Nicasio Andres Reed)
Type: Poem – Under 50 lines
Themes: Death, rebirth, family
Where to read: Text free online
“memory is a rot / in the ribs”. The Deadlands has been expanding, bringing us more speculative-inflected fiction and poetry about death, print issues, a novella line and a whole online portal to the netherworlds. This is a poem about the death of the ambiguous "you" and a Hindu funeral, with memorable imagery avoiding all the death clichés and offering an exploration of the father-son relation. I’m always wondering, is there enough new material about death, such a specific topic for a magazine – Abhinav shows us the answer is yes (and how!).
Take care,
Bogi.