Our guest this month was the young 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.

Poem:

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

Click here for a copy of her poetry book Encapsulated Emotions on Amazon