city of fog
a poem
you were walking home where your heart began but didn’t stay. you were walking home because no one was coming. hands in your pockets as if crescent moons,
stumbling, streetlight by streetlight in a city claimed by a milky white fog, which is to say
you were inside your mind
again.
you are here often
in the graveyard of everything you’ve
killed, everything that fell through
and how gorgeous
that nothing here belongs to no one else.
that in this fog, from a distance, the
architecture looks slender and true
as a fire-escape
arranged for and by
catastrophe
you’re here often
where you forget the sounds for
your name. the way it tastes in your mouth in its exiled silence
soft and untimely.
where you know the price to enter a song
is to lose your way back
so say it. say your name out loud. despite
the crack in your voice, despite
your voice. sing it
to prove everything that falls through
isn’t an endless tragedy, just
summer. that our lives are brief and
for a moment, death, life and everything in between
can be described through words and lived again
through decaying memories.
that your words in ink staining the pages
look like black bones of a mythical creature
fossilised on its way to touch the sky
that despite them being capable of disaster
they’re also what saved you from many
that when rain falls as ice only to touch your face
and changes to water
it is to remind you that you too can change
without disappearing
that when your mother calls you home
she wants you to know she’s finding her way back too
remember
it was only yesterday that you flew
don’t be stunned by the falling now
for gravity is a funny thing
it only pulls those who believe in
love.
About the Creator
Mesh Toraskar
A wannabe storyteller from London. Sometimes words spill out of me and the only way to mop the spillage is to write them down.
"If you arrive here, remember, it wasn't you - it was me, in my longing, who found you."
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
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More stories from Mesh Toraskar and writers in Poets and other communities.
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Comments (23)
Amazing!!! Congratulations on your win this is an amazing piece of writing
I will post the long version in the portfolio but I’m trying to find the other poem you wrote that takes in these themes. “A Litany?” Or maybe all of them, lol. I want to publish a Mesh poetry collection on your behalf because wow do I need your work in print already. It would just be for me, lol. Your themes are so profound, continual, and beautifully patterned that they’re screaming to be bundled up together to tell your story. Because they WILL do that. To what degree, I can’t say, of course. But it will be there like a present. There are a few in particular that I’d want in the collection. The ones that feature fog, the city, your name, your parents, (your is not necessarily YOU of course), walking, shadows, etc. Those poems are my favorite anyway. ♥️ Not surprised this won. Not at all surprised. I am so full of effervescent happiness at your win, I cannot express it very well, lol! Til later, in the folio. 🎉🎉🎉
An amazing write! Enjoy these fruits as we ALL know the painstaking time spent in tending, pruning, and watering. Congratulations Mesh!
Congratulations on placing first and winning the challenge. This piece is amazing.
Beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing.
I enjoyed reading! thank you
An amazing piece fantastic writing
Congratulations! 🤗 A truly beautiful piece ❤️
Oh my 🫢 This is beyond amazing Mesh! Such a haunting yet beautiful poem; it completely resonated on a personal level and made me shiver, such as the line ‘ that when your mother calls you home she wants you to know she’s finding her way back too’. The imagery, the symbolism such as the graveyard, fire escape, black bones … are stunning. Congratulations on your win 🥇 👏 🥳
This is fantastic, Mesh. Congrats.
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Amazing poem!
Fabulous!
WHAT?! 🤩🥳🤩🥳🤩 Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!
Lovely pace, love the whimsy of the words cascading like a waterfall. Congrats.
Congratulations, I am not a poet yet you managed to make me appreciate the form with this winner
Congratulations on first place! 🥇 It’s well-deserved. This is a gorgeous piece.
So ethereal. Congratulations!
Beautiful. Congratulations. Well deserved🥇.
This is beautiful, Mesh. Congrats!
Remarkable!
How beautiful!
so very true. love it.