A Log of Interactions Between Me and a Neural Network I Trained on South Asian Devotional Poetry
MH Kaisth
[(“dog”), 5]
The dog was barking your name,
my Lord, as I turned away
from the marketplace. I wore
through my sandals
following that dog.
[(“dog”, “blue”), 2]
O Lord, o love,
you are the dog and the blue moon.
[(“end”), 4]
The end of all days
that is coming
sits in my mind,
a boat of stone.
[(“end”, “want”), 1]
You hold me, you end want on my tongue.
[(“gold”), 5]
Your name ringing
above me, above the sky
is a bell. Your name ringing
above the sky is gold
is a bell of gold.
[(“gold”, “dark”, “want”), 3]
With you by my side
I am gold, I want
dark and you.
[(“car”), 2]
The sacred drums, car,
beats you a crown.
[(“train terminal”), 1]
Our train terminal love.
[(“car”, “end”, “network”), 3]
My Lord of end loves
network, your car
bends low to me.
MH Kaisth is a computer scientist, artist and poet based in Chicago. He is currently a Global Leadership Fellow at Waseda University. He was the 2019 UChicago New Voices in Poetry Student Reader and runner-up in the Vermont Poetry Society’s 2020 national contest. His work has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, the Zimmerli Museum, Mountain Troubadour and Commiserate. MH Kaisth is online at mhk.dev.