Pink Moon: Poetry

By Roshan James

Pink Moon is part anthem of decolonization, part oracle of the times. Earthy, magical, and steeped in ancestral connection, Roshan James fuses her lived experience as a Tibetan-Indian born in Scarborough, Ontario, with a tangible connection to nature, humanity, and realms of consciousness. Growing up in the South Asian diaspora, but feeling disconnected from her cultural roots, James makes peace with the tension between her self-identities through poetry.

With lyrical ease and simplicity, James resonates off the page, holding the reader in a space, almost trance-like, of quiet confidence. Infused with street-style and deep contemplation, ancient tones and child-like questioning, this collection is a journey through abstract expression. Pink Moon sits at an intersection of timely themes: anti-oppression, melanated lived experience, climate action, social justice, and personal spirituality. The collection will be of interest for discussion in academia, literary circles, and among people who are passionate about art, mindfulness, meditation, holistic health, and nature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Release date: Sep 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778522338

Book preview

Dedication

To my children, the four who light up my world,

To my music-making man, my rock,

To the Pink Moon, which pulled ancestors from the aether,

To each reader:

My gratitude

Introduction

Razor round with a sweet silver face

Primordial flash and roar

Of undertowing tidal commands

From a soft clamshell mouth

We can’t understand who we are

Unless we understand

Sky rocks

And abyss

Why soil appears brown like our skin

The soul of trees

Birds

And all the intelligent

Animation

We are all

Connected by 

Marrow and air

And to see ourselves, once in a new moon

Is to see how the cosmos roils

Behind the scenes

On the other side of the waking dream

Of skin, home, streets, and daytime activities

Pukka

I grew to be three rulers tall

sucking on tamarind candy

slurpy, complicated

at the corner of Kennedy and Ellesmere

Instinct spoke, turmeric in everything

Chatted up Kensington

About how it

Tasted like a travelling

Village home

A spice route cottage with a view

My mouth couldn’t handle cardamom

Yet the hint of it was

The place where gods and goddesses

Emanated from jungle heat

Reuniting in the third eye

Four

Revelation is in the river