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Short and Sweet Roundup: Two Poems

My New Pencil Sharpener
by Dan Nielsen

My new pencil sharpener
is so good

I have to write
a while

before I can see
anything.

life
by Kanchan Chatterjee

a girl
and a boy
on a bike
going down
into the sun
at 100 kmph

leaving behind
a dustcloud
and
a hundred haiku and senryu . . .

Dan Nielsen is a stand-up poet. His work is compared to Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg, though major influences are Robert Creeley and William Carlos Williams. Credits include Random House and University of Iowa Press anthologies, and a quarter century’s worth of art/lit/mag publications. He’s had several plays produced, including the award-winning “Waiting for the Weinermobile,” and he was a staff writer on the Wisconsin Public Radio show “Hotel Milwaukee.” Dan is also good at ping-pong.

Kanchan Chatterjee is a 44-year-old male executive, working in the ministry of finance in the government of India. He is from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand India. Although he does not have any literary background, he loves poetry and scribbles when he feels the urge. His poems have appeared in various online and print journals, namely Eclectic Eel, Mad Swirl, Shot Glass Journal, Jellyfish Whisperer, Bare Hands Poetry, River Muse, Decanto, and Ygradsil. He was one of the nominees for the Pushcart Prize (U.K) in 2012.

Lead image: “Bicycle Film Festival 2010 Street Fair” (via Flickr user Brian Yap)