The dead are running the show in this poem by Pritikana Karmakar
Writing and Art by Pritikana Karmakar
Deathless City
The dead rise up
They will eat the living —
Deprived of light,
Where dust is food, clay is bread,
Remain forever in the Land of No Return —
To rule over it with me beside you.
Reference for the lines “Deprived of light… clay is bread”: The Descent of Ishtar to the Netherworld (lines 7-11, trans. by Stephanie Dalley, Myths of Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. OUP)
About Pritikana Karmakar
Pritikana, bookworm, nature-lover, occasional artist and singer, and a huge foodie, is currently a doctoral fellow of English at IIT Roorkee, India, specialising in medical humanities. Formerly a marketing content writer and editor for the K–12 education technology sector, she has found her calling in reading contemporary literature through various lenses. She hails from Burdwan, India and is a language enthusiast with varying proficiency in Bengali, English, Hindi, Odia and Assamese (in speech only for the last two).
She is also an occasional translator of Bengali works into English and a decent cook with a sweet tooth. On days when she is struggling with her majorly uncooperative body, she likes to curl up under her favourite comforter and read BL novels/fanfiction or watch Asian dramas. Fantasy is her greatest fetish, writing fanfiction her peculiar release! If you want to indulge in her transformative works, well, the secret is in the name!
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