Hemant Mohapatra

Hemant Mohapatra Poems

Hemant Mohapatra Biography

Hemant Mohapatra is an Indian poet writing in English. He was born and raised in India and spent much of his childhood surrounded by the Himalayan and Shivalik ranges. In 2006, he moved to Austin, Texas, where he works as an engineer during the day and as a writer during the night. He is featured in the 2011 Best New Poets series distributed by University of Virginia Press. His work has been published in various international journals such as Eclectica, BrinkLit, Asia Writes and the Paterson Literary Review as part of the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards series. He is also the winner of the second Srinivas Rayaprol Award and the Harper Collins Poetry Prize. He currently lives in Cambridge University, UK.)

The Best Poem Of Hemant Mohapatra

Grasshopper Aria

4 a.m.: the house is full
of fever and din. He stumbles
through the dark and stops
in front of the kitchen.
It is suddenly quiet—
they are waiting for him.
He pushes the door ajar
and finds them on top
of each other. One
of them, legs splayed
around the edge
of a plate, hands folded
in a prayer, while the other,
perched on its back, proud
and alone. Their bellies pushing
through the exoskeleton, curious
compound-eyes looking up
to the light he is flashing
on them. Caught in that moment
between the sewers and metal,
they are moving into sex. He closes
the door, they begin their song—
antennae sweeping the air
like ancient radios
tuning into love.

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