Dipesh Pandya 8

Levelled, 2020

slaying evil
from bipedal
to quadrupedal
role reversal
no rehearsal
true tonal
not biracial
diurnal
nocturnal
alone in the zonal
systems solar
sky blue bipolar
focused bifocals
go slower
go lower
flex faster
fly higher
eight limbs on fire
lotus and papaya
dhyāna pranayama
ya mama yama niyama asana
inner space mix master
rebel bass trick surfer


who is worse the red devil
or the red white and blue devil
the playing field needs to be levelled
red hot rhubarb neon green vapour stripes of fire
phoney love can break your heart’s desire
tried to be a sure shot upstart kickstart
cut short when your world is shot down falls apart
reparations now for us ain’t no stoppin’
i’m in the sun like carole baskin steady mobbin’
thirty one thousand flavours and years of hard labour
wild at heart never tame

Shikar, 2020

flowing enamoured in amur armour
om bhur bhuva swaha manic mantra
virtually displace siberian cyber space
kissing cousins from the indo-gangetic plains
lightning strikes and sweet monsoon rains
mammoth clones a nuclear transformation
fascination in incantation
de-extinction high level solar elevation
108 times the sunrise climbs
slow and steady rise
in racist hate crimes
test track and field
race tracked and traced
deep state snakes
destroy discriminate
test traces contained to isolate
nothing gentle remains of late

aleppo controlled by a despot
a leper rolled an eye that’s blood shot
a lie not a leopard is an easy spot
a weapon when its cold is sometimes hot
trigger squeezing
it’s open hunting season
recognise your crimes and treason
steal our rhymes and rhythm methods
natural born killers
sufi gharānā khana with the chillas
sadhakam riyaz hafez of shiraz
shayaar ka mushaira finger click carnatic
we’re oriental then exotic
never cryptic or hip we’re hypnotic
thunder sound rains dance
antardhyāna we enter the trance
tiger smoke in orange flames
i got tiger skin in this tiger game
assassins for hire
lavender shots fired to the head
your capitals laid dead