ghosts of things

Photo Essay by Rhea Gupte

Grew up on stories
Of steamboats and saris
Which travelled from
India to Aden and back.

Suitcases packed,
Passports stamped,
A mother, a father, a child
Migrating to a new land.

One worked at the post office
The second in a bank
The third learnt Arabic
In Fatima’s lap.

Flipping through lives
In white and black
Albums became musical boxes
Singing songs of my pack.

Things become ghosts
Inhabiting memories, grazing hands
Teleporting tales they’ve been
To the shores of present lands.

Real or make believe?
These stories painted in peace.
Like any other colonised country
Life remained on an unfair lease.

The last time across the seas
Three beating hearts would journey,
Leaving behind a life
To fit the required weight category.

Seashores are lines,
Between hope and regret
Where one may live and breed,
Another perishes in death.

Losing home is a loss
No matter a space, a person, a town
No matter if it birthed you,
No matter if it turned you down.

Tags

Related Pieces

G5A imprint presents its second print edition. This physical magazine is a selection of the work published, digitally, in Volumes 05 to 09. This Edition 2 of the magazine features selected pieces from our digital edition alongside some pieces exclusively for print.

Order Edion 2 Now
editor's note

Volume 10

contact | shadow | fringe

I’ve been reflecting on the theme for our tenth volume, a lovely milestone that coincides serendipitously with the warehouse’s tenth year, and how it feels apt for the moment we find ourselves in currently. The theme straddles a threshold. The movement from this side to the far side. It isn’t inherently accompanied by an emotion. And yet, I feel it suggests a sense of hopefulness. 

This isn’t in a vacuum but is influenced by two events that concern themselves with a tremendous threshold: our atmosphere and the expanse beyond it. I am referring to the successful flyby mission around the moon by the Artemis II and the release of the film “Project Hail Mary” (adapted from Andy Weir’s novel of the same name). These two events, coinciding in this manner, serve less as random happenstance and more as a reminder, as Carl Sagan said, “The Cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff.” A reminder that everything out there, is also everything in here. It serves as a reminder for hope that as we resume our exploration of the darkest depths of the universe, we must take that strength to step forward from our own personal shadows.

Shadows can be freeing. There is comfort in creating, expressing, and working without scrutiny or pressure or expectation. It has potential for great freedom, movement, and discovery. However, when the driving force isn’t exploration then it can be crippling and lead to paralysis. In those moments, “coincidental” events like these can be arresting and provide a sense of hope that the next step is all that matters. One step at a time soon becomes many past an imposing threshold. As we gather momentum, pressure is bound to build. It is here, with changed circumstances, that the intention must persevere. Learning the rules, allows the impact of breaking them to feel that much sweeter, but that isn’t necessary. Acting from pure instinct allows for an innate expression to present itself. It is balancing this, instinct versus experience, that proves vital to take experience into one’s stride with child-like instinct and intention.

Our focus, at imprint and G5A, on independent stories allows this freedom. It is something we work to preserve so that the experience of ten volumes and ten years, respectively, does not weigh us down but lifts us up through the shadows and into the expanse. This is not easy but it is simple. When you default to curiosity and wonder, it isn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

We’re excited for Volume 10 and everything it will hold.