We
each see
what we
want to see
Sometimes, we see them
alone;
sometimes, together

I
only
saw
the
raintree
canopy

he
only
saw
the
eagle
sharpening
its
claws
on a branch
somewhere

I
only
saw
the
raintree
canopy

he
only
saw
the
eagle
sharpening
its
claws
on a branch
somewhere

About the poem and collaborators

Lina Krishnan
Priyanka’s verse recalled to me this art I had made during the pandemic, which brought isolation in its wake. At such times, you find value in both solitude and company. She inhabits these twin spaces gently, with feeling. For us, it was also stimulating to realize our parallel paths in the thought process.

Lina Krishnan is a poet and abstract artist based in Auroville, India. Her work has been included in literary journals, arts magazines and in nine collections of poetry.

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Priyanka Sacheti
The title of this poem-art work speaks as much as for the story behind the poem and the nature of our collaboration. We can and usually see things alone but it is another experience to witness it in unison, so to speak. The overlapping eyes in Lina’s art truly encapsulate the idea of the poem as well as the way we have approached this collaboration.

Priyanka Sacheti is a writer and poet based in Bangalore, India. She grew up in the Sultanate of Oman and previously lived in the United Kingdom and United States. Her literary work has appeared in numerous literary journals such as The Common, Marble Poetry, Barren, Popshot, The Lunchticket, and Jaggery Lit as well as in various anthologies.

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