Transcript: Poems on Air, Episode 22 - Vandana Khanna

[Music intro]

LYNNE THOMPSON: Hello! My name is Lynne Thompson, Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles and I’m so happy to welcome listeners to this installment of Poems on Air, a podcast supported by the Los Angeles Public Library. Every week, I’ll present the work of poets I admire, poets who you should know, and poets who have made a substantial and inimitable contribution to the art and craft of poetry.

LYNNE THOMPSON: Another print journal listeners to this podcast will want to check out is Crazyhorse. Founded by Tom McGrath in Los Angeles in 1960, it has published numerous renowned authors whose work has won the O. Henry Prize, Pushcart Prize, and appeared in the Best American Poetry anthologies. In a recent issue, portions of which can be found online, Crazyhorse published the work of Los Angeles poet and editor Vandana Khanna. Khanna, born in New Delhi, India, and raised in Virginia, is the author of two collections of poetry, winner of the Miller Williams Poet-ry Prize, and the Poetry Co-Editor of the Los Angeles Review. Personally, I can tell you that she is kind and a generous poetry citizen.

LYNNE THOMPSON: Today’s poem is "Dear O" by Vandana Khanna

Dear O

Maybe it began before the oracles even
opened their mouths. Before I stank

of sea and the past. Before the bees woke
and considered swarming. When the oracles

asked me to picture a man, you appeared,
dragging that boat through my dreams.

After, I measured every hour by nautical
miles, faulty math. I was the wife who

always forgot to carry the one. When they
asked me to name him, I did think about

forever then. How wearying to be a rose-
colored bride for twenty years, bound to set

any girl’s teeth on edge. In your long absence,
I’ve learned. Not every man is a cartography

of need. Sacrifice is overrated but no one
tells you how to get out of it. I only thought

of trading up once. Stone-faced and sweet-wined,
I missed the purr of adoration low and animal

in the throat. A little honey on those bitter nights.
I barely made it to morning with my cotton heart intact.

LYNNE THOMPSON: The Los Angeles Poet Laureate was created as a joint program between the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Public Library and this podcast will be available on the Library’s website. In the future, episodes will be available on iTunes, Google, and Spotify. Thanks for listening!

[Music outro]

  • Back to Poems on Air: Episode 22

    • DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a certified or verbatim transcript, but rather represents only the context of the class or meeting, subject to the inherent limitations of real-time captioning. The primary focus of real-time captioning is general communication access and as such this document is not suitable, acceptable, nor is it intended for use in any type of legal proceeding. Transcript provided by the author.

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