Rishi Dastidar

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St Clement’s mystic brew
(after ‘Electric Relaxation’ by A Tribe Called Quest)

Ever been the ghost at the matinee
of your own life? Whisper it but

everyone feels like they’re invisible
between the ages of their last first kiss

and their first last goodbye. It’s an
immutable law, and I know some

people will tell you to get your betrayals
in early lads because it’s the only way

you’ll be able to represent on the street,
as people younger than you accelerate

past you with their faster strolls…
Discover these late rooms, these lonely rooms,

where the extinction rebellion is extreme
relaxation. Drink this mystic brew three times

an hour. What’s in it? Clementines, praise,
mint, the cold heat of the anvil of the future,

stirred with the ashes of love’s ambition
for you. The blacksmith saint tells you

it’s the start of your winter but what does that
matter? There will be other springs to live for.

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Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC amongst many others. His debut collection Ticker-tape is published by Nine Arches Press, and a poem from it was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2018. A member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, he is also chair of the London writer development organisation Spread The Word. Rishi wrote and judged the meme poetry challenge on Young Poets Network.

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