Claudia Ann Seaman Award
The Ebbs of the Bangali
Robert Yalam
Scottsdale, AZ
BASIS Scottsdale
Poetry
The tickle of his fingertips,
Delicate and intentional,
Caressed my skin with the gentle comfort
Of a stream, a lilting rhythm of crests
With no destination,
Ebbing and flowing in guilty hesitation,
Gradually building to an upstream crash of waves
That clutched and grasped and
Forced every aspect of my humanity into submission
Coerced by his soothing whispers,
A tiger’s purrs with glinting fangs
Hidden under the smile of his touch
And the warmth of his breath,
A whistle through cattails following the storm.
All connection entangled me in the origami of him.
He who could do no wrong,
Who knew each crease and manipulated his medium
With tender hand and vision for beauty.
He who would shape this contact
Into his vision for love.
EDITORIAL PRAISE
"The Ebbs of the Bangali" invites us to follow an all-too-familiar narrative through a new and raw lens of humanity. In un-mapping difficult tropes of personhood, oppression, identity, and self-restoration, the writer potently staggers the length of each line to reflect the erratic journey speaker treads.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Yalam will graduate from BASIS Scottsdale, in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2020. He enjoys writing about the art and films he sees, and his work has been recognized by the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and a few local competitions. He enjoys taking photos of the world around him, hiking, and exploring new places.