The Curious Sanctuary

This week’s poems come from Swarit Gopalan, whose new chapbook is being released this week by Unrestricted Editions. He writes:

The Curious Sanctuary is a second act anchored in the love and gratitude from my first chapbook. As a sense of belonging deepens with every interaction with my poems, the inner dialogue between my heart and spirit intensifies. The words unearthed from that place of resonance form the poems in this book. I hope these words make your hearts full and minds free.

Seeing the way

This way of seeing
Motions the stars to smile
The moon to blush
The sun to wink
Plunging earth into an eclipse

This way of seeing
Invites the trees to dance
The waves to an embrace
The mountains to a chorus
Echoing through the forests

This way of seeing
Gives birth to life
Seeding miracles plenty
Leaving legacies of resilience
That transcend eternity


Keyboard

When the keyboard is put in front of me
I see unlimited possibilities
Gift of agency, the power to own my truth
The fear of not being good enough
The license to be original and creative
The burden of the skeptics, being misunderstood
The admiration for the tribe’s pursuits
The anxiety if all these efforts are futile
The revelation that my own words
Can help overcome my own doubts
The bonds that my words create
And the roots it deepens
The priceless existence it fosters

Swarit Gopalan is a 14-year-old autistic nonspeaker who communicates through typing. Living in Palm Harbor, Florida, he is a poet and writer whose work reflects his lived experience and his deep concern for justice and dignity for marginalized communities. He is the author of Loud Echoes of the Soul (also from Unrestricted Editions) and a contributor to several anthologies. Swarit shares his poems and reflections on swaritgopalan.com and on social media, where his writing challenges assumptions about nonspeaking individuals and invites readers to move beyond sympathy toward understanding and allyship.