17 Comments
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Anu Prabhala's avatar

Very nice, Priya! January must be a July. Some may ask.

January, if you were to be July

On who, I ask, may the nation rely?

For that fire under the butt

And that overexercised god-damn thin body strut?

😉

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Haha, Anu, what a wonderful rebuttal. There’s nothing like a Sunday morning written poetry slam!. I’m going to respond with a poem later today!

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Stace Dumoski's avatar

Lovely! I’d never thought about January and September sharing the same energy, but you’re so right!

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Stace, thank you!

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Good Humor by CK Steefel's avatar

Love this. ❤️

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Thank you, Carissa!

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Shinjini's avatar

Love the imagery in this poem!!

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Thank you!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

What fun, Priya! September energy is literal for me - it’s back to school this week. This month is named for Janus, god of thresholds, who has two faces - one looking back, one forward. Especially in the first week, I feel that retrospective / prospective energy.

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Julie, you have inspired me to write a Janus poem! I actually forgot about him. I was thinking of a January-born person in my life, and how, over the years, their partner has brought out a side of them they themselves didn’t know was there. Thank you for reading and sharing!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

How cool!! I look forward to that.

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Michael Edward's avatar

Beautiful words, Priya!

So very nice of you to have some compassion for January. I love it!

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Priya Iyer's avatar

As I wrote, I was thinking that in Australia, January is really July! Thanks, Michael!

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Michael Edward's avatar

Haha yep, down here it’s hot as in January. :)

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Nadia Gerassimenko's avatar

Interesting reflections and reimaginings of January, Priya! I just love love love these penetrating lines: "Let me look towards the moon / from inside the lake / and feel the eyes of my beloved / look back at me."

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Priya Iyer's avatar

Thank you, Nadia!

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jennae's avatar

This made me feel so much empathy for January. Maybe January just wants to be a chill relaxed month like others. What a sweet, emotive poem. I love this! 🥲

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