Our guest for June is the poet Rha Arayal. We had a captivating talk about her poem ‘The Girl That I Am/The Girl That I Should Be,’ how to handle growing up bicultural, being published at sixteen, and more. It was delightful to speak with her; it’s amazing to see someone that age demonstrate such inner strength.
Rha Arayal is a 19-year-old British Nepali writer living in Wales. She enjoys examining the balance of nature and nurture, especially the notion of an Asian Welsh identity, as well as exploring racism and kindness and other aspects of humanity in her writing. Her debut poetry collection, Encapsulated Emotions, was published with Genz Publishing in 2021. When she’s not writing, she loves watching American vampire shows, practicing martial arts and buying second hand books.
the girl that I am/the girl that I should be
she crouches on the floor wearing mud-encrusted flip-flops
there is a red shawl wrapped tightly around her waist
it holds her brick phone which has run out of battery
it holds her aching back like PVA glue wrapping around jigsaw pieces
she reminds herself that she is no one
just a village girl who cuts grass for the cow
her mother milks it and loves it
her father carries the milk on a motorcycle into town
this world may be alien to you
but it is almost home to me
but it nearly happened to me
but it also never did
and for that, I am grateful
she isn’t scared of snakes winding up her legs
her skin is slightly cracked and is darker than mine
sun cream is too expensive and the village shops only sell instant noodles
she isn’t afraid of cows or spiders or the dark
they stomp and crawl and engulf her life
they are a crucial part of her life
they are alien to me
so many sources of brutality
of nature and of rich cultural love
surround her
like her red shawl which is split at the seams
her grandmother owns the other half
my grandmother, who cries to me on the phone
my grandmother, who I hope is hanging on
like crimson threads swaying in the wind
oblivious to snakes and cows and spiders and the dark
Instagram @encapsulated_emotions
Get her first poetry book Encapsulated Emotions on Amazon