Madhurima Ganguly, Lava, Earth and Sky, 2018. Batik and white acid free ink, 18 karat gold on Loka royal paper. 15 x 18 in.
Inland
by Michael Juliani
On the Brooklyn waterfront,
I wonder how soon the river will rise.
The sky looks uninspired
when I plead with it.
I want to see the planets
my father showed me
in Lacy Park, the green
and purple sparkles I thought
could only appear somewhere
much more glamorous
than San Marino. My mother
wants to stay in California,
to have something to leave
my sister and me to sell
when we start our families,
but the fires are about to reduce
the house’s asking price.
Before that strange day when the new
owner picks his favorite room
to masturbate in, I’d like
to carry my firstborn
around every mold-stained corridor
and point to the cracks I traced
when the boundless contours of my life
felt like New York Harbor thrashing
farther inland over everything
I decided to call my home.
Published June 8, 2025
Michael Juliani is a poet, editor, and writer from Pasadena, California. His poems have appeared in outlets such as the Bennington Review, Washington Square Review, Sixth Finch, Bear Review, SARKA, and NECK. He has an MFA in poetry from Columbia University and he lives in Los Angeles.
Madhurima Ganguly was born and raised in Indian, Kolkata 1983. She obtained her B.F.A (2007) and M.F.A (2009) from Rabindra Bharati University, India specializing in sculpture. In 2011, she moved to
the United States and since then has been showing her work in various prestigious shows around USA and in India. She had a solo show at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2018). In the year 2019 and 2022, she had solo shows at River House Arts Gallery in Toledo, Ohio. She is a visual art practitioner and art educator. She is currently represented by River House Art Gallery, Toledo, Ohio and actively shows her works through New York Pen and Brush Gallery. www.madhurimaganguly.com