Cracked Asphalt

Cracked Asphalt seeks to untangle the strings of guilt Sree Sen found herself wrapped in after her move from Mumbai, India to Dublin, Ireland. What is home, beyond concrete, relationships and postal addresses? Born out of worn-out soles, when Sen went fundraising door-to-door in Dublin, these poems are a personal exploration of fractured identities and the essence of 'home'.

Sample poem:

sour apples

the apple tree at home bears tart fruits

as a child, I'd been warned-

sour mouth crevices

juices dripping along elbow lines

pitted seeds longing for the worm

to break through.

at home, it's tart, the apples

worthless in the marketplace

almost evil but not in pies

i'd climb high  

for the one beyond my reach

risk a scolding. tart fruits

apples at home, two decades later

the old tree hangs head in shame

an incomplete mother,

the worm feasted upon,

blossoms betraying each branch

birthing a perfect error

Advance Praise:

"Like a Pfeilströche, arrow stork, these poems reach us from afar. They bring evidence of a life lived for better 'I dreamt of going home... of love restored in spicy/ ginger tea, freckles and wrinkled touch' or for worse 'my character attached to my neckline'. These poems are themselves proof of living 'easier to love in Dublin, here I'm not pretending to be/ someone else,' but not always easy living 'racists, invincible under streetlights.' These poems are unflinching in their truth telling. The worlds they describe are complex and highlight that there is no easy way between places. Sree Sen's poems are shocking and beautiful. They will help you see differently."

- Fióna Bolger