"Bucket list(s)", "Can you hear me?" & "Moulding" by Shiksha Dheda

Bucket list(s)

i.

Things to do/achieve list 2019

1. Go horse-riding

2. Learn how to play the guitar

3. Learn a new language

4. Buy a (very) nice party outfit

5. Learn how to change my car’s tyre(s)

6. Bake bread

7. Watch a play at the theatre

8. Donate/volunteer at/for a shelter/charity

9. Go skydiving

10. Ride a motorcycle

11. See the northern lights

12. Get a tarot card reading done

13. Go to Japan (take many many photographs)

14. Make pizza at home

15. Get a poem featured by a literary magazine/journal/website

16. Buy a (proper) fitting bra

17. Lose some weight (maybe 5 kg)

18. Go for shooting training

19. Learn archery

20. Go on a helicopter

21. Go on a train

22. Learn how to roller-skate

23. Go on a hot air balloon

ii.

Things to do/achieve list 2020

1. Learn how to play the guitar

2. Learn a new language

3. Learn how to change my car’s tyre(s)

4. Go skydiving

5. Ride a motorcycle

6. See the northern lights

7. Get a poem featured by a literary magazine/journal/website

8. Go for shooting training

9. Learn archery

10. Learn how to roller-skate

11. Go on a hot air balloon

12. Try to leave the house at least once a week

13. Be more grateful

14. Pray that the people you care about survive

iii.

Things to do/achieve list 2021

1. Pray for the people you care about

2. Find my purpose in life

3. Being accepted for who I am (completely)

4. Being loved despite who I am (completely)

Can you hear me?

Moulding

Protective mechanism caused by an abrupt change makes them unpalatable.

We

human

call shock a burning match under the tip of a leaf

in rapid succession

s l o w l y up,

d

o

w

n,

like watching in slow motion,

pain or any emotions

– they seek the light –

rise, straighten or bend as gravity dictates.

Adjust.

Must adapt.

Grow.

Burrowing with rain;

decaying,

the good will support,

but when the demand become too great

nothing concrete;

– an abstraction –

utterly unreliable and

changing,

neither can possibly say how much rain will fall

unpredictable, changeable.

Every day.

Every night.

Shiksha Dheda is a South African of Indian descent. She uses writing to express her OCD and depression roller-coaster ventures, but mostly to avoid working on her master's degree. Sometimes, she dabbles in photography, painting, and baking lopsided layered cakes.

Her writing has been featured (on/forthcoming) in Wigleaf, Passages North, Brittle Paper, Door is a jar and Epoch Press amongst others.

She is the Pushcart nominated author of Washed Away (Alien Buddha Press, 2021). She currently has chapbooks published with The Daily Drunk Mag and Fahmidan Publishing & Co.

She rambles annoyingly at Twitter: @ShikshaWrites. You can find (or ignore her) at https://shikshadheda.wixsite.com/writing