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Escher’s Drawing Hands Ars Poetica & other poems
• Escher’s Drawing Hands Ars Poetica & other poems
February 25, 2026
by NATASHA DEVALIA
Escher’s Drawing Hands
Ars Poetica
as
one hand
draws another
—an endless knot;
is
one hand writing a poem
about writing a poem
—ink feeding ink.
*
Emptiness
consider yourself
a gap,
the pause,
blank space
between rooms
between the exhale
and the next inhale,
as the residue lingers,
remains
unspoken;
you are nothing
and everything,
hum of buddha’s meditation.
*
Secret
Three horses gallop
in gold across a plateau of white,
brown in the foreground.
A ceiling fan ruminates:
whoosh
shadows slice.
No one is there to see—
mummy, don’t shout.
The bottle kisses my lips,
I sip its secret guilt;
sweetness drips.
I curl up to the cold,
hide in motion
I hold on to my horse—
a black rocking chair.
No! It was brown
like coca cola.
no one notices
this tiny
teenage
rebellion,
or so I believe.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NATASHA DEVALIA is a Zambian of South Asian descent, living in Bangkok. She is the author of Tears and Grape Seeds, poetry and art ( 2025), one touch of the rope, poetry and art (2024) and Unseen Veins, poetry and art (2023), which was runner-up of the Aryamati Prize for Poetry. Her writing has been published by Ubwali Literary Magazine and Kitaab Literary Magazine. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee. Natasha is currently pursuing an MFA in painting at the Academy of Art University. Her art has been published by Ubwali Literary Magazine and the Journal of African Youth Literature. The themes of her art, whether expressed through movement, poetry, painting or as an interdisciplinary form, include mental health, migration, identity, belonging and family life.
@natashadevalia
* Cover Image by Alexander Zvir on Pexels