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This poem is taken from PN Review 234, Volume 43 Number 4, March - April 2017.

Do You Hear What I’m Saying?

Overheard in New Haven
Sujata Bhatt
I literally know my friends will be there.
We are blessed.
We are not.
Well compared to –

She’s not a particularly nice person
but she hasn’t done anything bad to you.
Even I don’t really like her.

It’s called Human Studies.
Okay, now you can say it.

I don’t need to talk to my mom about anything.
I can hear it all in my head.

I just don’t feel comfortable.
It just got worse. It’s so bad.
It’s frustrating, irritating –
What’s happening?

My mom too. It’s insane.
It’s funny the way she talks about things
and the way her eyebrows go.

Oh my God! If you need a doctor
...


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