Jasper Johal

Perish

Added 2021-09-14 20:18:06 +0000 UTC

All sin was of my sinning, all
Atoning mine, and mine the gall
Of all regret. Mine was the weight
Of every brooded wrong, the hate
That stood behind each envious thrust,
Mine every greed, mine every lust.

And all the while for every grief,
Each suffering, I craved relief
With individual desire,
Craved all in vain! And felt fierce fire
About a thousand people crawl;
Perished with each,—then mourned for all!

– from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)

PHOTO: Kiesha is a model from England who visited my studio while traveling through California a few years ago. Her family is originally from India like mine, and we talked about the rich tradition of poetry in Hindi. For the shoot we decided to write some Hindi poetry on her body.