elixir

Artwork by Shruthi Medicherla, Art Team Director and staff artist.

below the ocean floor, the nectar churns

sips of forbidden life locked away in the unknown      the

fingers reach

and grasp

and claw, catching tear-filled sea each time

below the ocean floor, the nectar is spilling,                life’s blood

immortality loses its grasp with every drop

above the ocean floor, they are standing in lines

evil faces good                                         

  good faces evil

the ocean must churn the elixir of immortal life               

mixing 

the game of life rests on the shoulders of a mountain                   

now

good is fighting evil, swords in had — good abandons its morality in 

favor of perpetual power, the visions of sweet eternity are dripping

down its lips. 

the earth folds in half, the ocean churns and churns                                 

 highland becomes lowland, the ocean churns and churns

mountains are uprooted, lives undone                             

yet, 

the secret to life remains stationary on the ocean floor,

seeping into earthen cracks                      

    sweetening the salty tears that surround it  

  so that everyone may have a chance at 

immortality, lest the gods

_

As a child, I would lie in bed every night and listen to my father tell me stories inspired by traditional Indian folklore. One such tale that stood out to me was about amrita, a holy nectar that presents those who take it with immortality. The story embodies greed and selfishness, but also desperation. Life is such a fickle thing — many would walk through fire to find a “cure” for mortality. Yet, immortality isn’t all it seems to be. Positioning the lens of the poem to look at good versus evil, I wanted to highlight the divisions that power sows and the effect it can have on the lives of every other individual. 

Myesha Phukan is an Indian-American poet and journalist located in the Bay Area. She is a 2022 and 2023 Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate Finalist and 2022 Youth Speaks United Slam Champion. Her work has been recognized by YoungArts, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize, 1455 Literary Arts, and others. She enjoys writing about her multifaceted culture and the delicate nature of humanity.