The Enchantments

/ Issue 12.3 /

……Though it feels
like free will
……while you’re under the spell,

all ensorcelment
…………is carceral.
The sailor crunching

…………acorns in
in the jail cell
…………of a tubby

swine believes
…………his daily swill
is sea-dark wine.

…………You shouldn’t have
to sleep a hundred
…………years or even

ten to get the sense
…………enchantment
just enchains you.

…………It’s the breaking
of the spell
…………and not Calypso’s

abracadabra
…………that will permanently
change you.

…………You don’t need
a stranger to kiss
…………you awake,

but it’s love
…………for the stranger
that makes

…………the awaited
awakening
…………take.

Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar is the author of five critically-acclaimed novels, four collections of award-winning poetry, a book for younger readers, and a translation of the Bhagavad-Gita with commentary. Three new books are forthcoming in 2023: a memoir (Twin A, with Slant Books), a book of essays (Black Avatar and Other Essays, with Acre Books), and a three-volume retelling of the Mahabharata (with Penguin India). The former first Poet Laureate of Ohio as well as a diagnostic and nuclear radiologist, he lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife and three children.
Amit Majmudar

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Author: Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar is the author of five critically-acclaimed novels, four collections of award-winning poetry, a book for younger readers, and a translation of the Bhagavad-Gita with commentary. Three new books are forthcoming in 2023: a memoir (Twin A, with Slant Books), a book of essays (Black Avatar and Other Essays, with Acre Books), and a three-volume retelling of the Mahabharata (with Penguin India). The former first Poet Laureate of Ohio as well as a diagnostic and nuclear radiologist, he lives in Westerville, Ohio, with his wife and three children.