Meena Alexander has two new books forthcoming in 2018. Her volume of poems Atmospheric Embroidery (TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern U Press) and the anthology she edited Name Me a Word: Indian Writers Reflect in Writing (Yale U Press). She is Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Center CUNY. www.meenaalexander.com
Poetry
Fall 2012
Cobblestones & Heels
By Herod's gate, In a twelfth-century courtyard, A woman in sweatpants, Nails flashing crimson. By her, a parrot in a cage. —Tu tu tu tu hutu tu—the parrot cries. By […]
Nonfiction
Winter 2006
An Interview with Meena Alexander
Meena Alexander was born in Allahabad, India, and raised in India and Sudan. When she was eighteen she went to study in England. She now lives in New York City, […]
Poetry
Winter 2006
Torn Grass
Childhood is a hot country, Amma lives there.The sky has turned the color of torn grass. Remember the calf dragged away to Chenganacheri Fair?Tiny tottering thing, snout wet with gooseberry […]
Poetry
Autumn 2005
Cold Weather Trees
Amma calls through the monsoon wind Come, Meena, pick up your sari hem The snails mustn't catch in it, If you go too slow into the next world You'll stumble […]
Poetry
Spring 2004
Raw Silk
I. Open the door or I’ll faint hearing amma’s voice—Where is the silk from your grandmother’s sari? Raw silk brought all the way from Varanasi. In another life I crouched […]
July/Aug 2018
Parts of the Day; Sister
Parts of the Day The cliff is not very far. A white horse is tied to the lamp post. He is more precious to me than my own breath. They […]
Spring 2012
Garden in Nazareth
In memory of Taha Muhammad Ali, 1931-2011
Already birds are flying into your garden,
Lark and quail, sand in their wings.
The garden is in front, the desert is not far.
Somewhere a bus is burning.