Reader Island

 There will always be an island

the island of readers

unbiased

who come to my writing as nymphs and dryads

to the cool of a forest

and the shade of a waterfall

to enjoy the words'

sound

cascading like water

picking and eating them

like berries

that stain their lips red

with their juice

and because of these and the naiads

who quench their thirst at my poems' fountains

because of their refreshment

I breathe

I live

7Nidhi Popli, Lakshmi Venkatachalam and 5 others