The Melody or Witchcraft podcast interviews begin with a love for poetry, its craft, and a major literary ancestor: Emily Dickinson. I’m your host, Kathryn Petruccelli, a poet, workshop leader, Substacker, & former guide for the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. Listen in to hear about the concentric circles of the past and the present. Names or poetic references are fleshed out or linked to in the show notes if not in the moment. Thanks for being a listener! Rate us on Spotify HERE, or Apple Podcasts HERE. kathrynpetruccelli.substack.com for complete notes, photos, and links. I don’t remember how I started following Sunu Chandy on social media, but I immediately understood that her obvious commitment to the issues she believed in were things I also felt strongly about. The day I arranged to talk to Sunu, happened to be the 25th anniversary of the 911 tragedy. What I didn’t know when we first scheduled things, was her personal connection to the events of that day. Please note that there is also a “Bonus Bit” associated with Sunu’s interview. You’ll find that brief audio separately. In Episode 21, Sunu & I discuss communal grief, the risk it takes to take care of each other, her civil rights law work, & the complicated nature of standing in one’s truth. (Recorded September 11, 2026) Sunu P. Chandy (she/her) is a social justice activist including through her work as a poet and a civil rights attorney. She is the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India, and lives in Washington, DC with her family. Her collection of poems, My Dear Comrades, was published by Regal House. She is also a Senior Advisor with Democracy Forward, and on the board of the Transgender Law Center. Sunu is a proud alum of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, Northeastern Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, and she completed her MFA in Creative Writing from Queens College/CUNY. Sunu has been recognized as one of the Queer Women of Washington. The Dickinson poem Sunu chose: I measure every Grief I meetWith narrow, probing, eyes –I wonder if It weighs like Mine –Or has an Easier size. I wonder if They bore it long –Or did it just begin –I could not tell the Date of Mine –It feels so old a pain – I wonder if it hurts to live –And if They have to try –And whether – could They choose between –It would not be – to die – I note that Some – gone patient long –At length, renew their smile –An imitation of a LightThat has so little Oil – I wonder if when Years have piled –Some Thousands – on the Harm –That hurt them early – such a lapseCould give them any Balm – Or would they go on aching stillThrough Centuries of Nerve –Enlightened to a larger Pain –In Contrast with the Love – The Grieved – are many – I am told –There is the various Cause –Death – is but one – and comes but once –And only nails the eyes – There’s Grief of Want – and grief of Cold –A sort they call “Despair” –There’s Banishment from native Eyes –In sight of Native Air – And though I may not guess the kind –Correctly – yet to meA piercing Comfort it affordsIn passing Calvary – To note the fashions – of the Cross –And how they’re mostly worn –Still fascinated to presumeThat Some – are like my own – Fascicle 27, Sheet 2, (Fr550, J561) c. Summer 1863 I Like Your PlantSunu Chandy For the second timefrom my bedroom windowI see the storybook witch ladyat her patio balcony. The first, the dayafter Great-Granny died. The second,almost five months later, the weekendof what would have beenGreat-Granny’s 98th birthdayand the day we held her memorialservice in our living room. The neighbor has wildwhite hair going in all directions,and a salmon-colored baggy T-shirtwith some design I cannot decipherfrom my stationaryPeloton bicycle. As Alex fake yells at meduring fake hit and hills spin class, I see heronly during my standingclimbs. At first, she’s stretchingboth hands to the sky. But thenshe starts gripping. Five floorsabove the ground,she’s gripping the railing. I know there are so many reasons to gripa railing. I know there are timesI’ve gripped a railing. She keeps stretchingand then gripping. When I go up the fakemountain and Alex fake yellsat me on the fake bike, I’m worryingnow about the very not fakeneighbor. She’s closingher eyes. It’s like she’s grippingand praying. I am getting more worriedeach time I come down from each fakehillside. I open the window,hoping the noise of that smallmovement across the spacewill be enough. When it’s not, from my fake bike,I say Good Morning in a mediumloud voice, hoping it’s enough. It breaksher trance and she looksaround, but does not see me. I’m insidea window, across a concretecourtyard and two floorsup. As she’s lookingaround, my class ends. I’m not surewhat comes next. I notice two plantson her patio. One is a small fiddleleaf fig, like mine used to be. I finda pathway. I said Hi there,I like your plant. I thinkI have one like that too. She looksup. She says Hi. Yes, it’s growingnicely. It has doubled in sizesince it arrived here. I am late now for gettingready for churchas my few minutes of shower-timewas spent with our neighbor. I had noidea what to say, or if to say anything at allto this strangeracross the way, this person,our neighbor. I didn’t want to saysomething as loadedas: Are you okay?I didn’t want to sayI’m thinking againof my friend’s extendedfamily member who took his lifelast week. That’s why I couldn’tstay with herin Philly. I didn’t want to sayour friend’s spouse, our age,just started hospice this weekafter two yearswith cancer. I didn’t want to saywe lost our Great Grannyearlier this year. And George Uncle too.Or that we are celebrating Great-Granny’slife this afternoon. I didn’t wantto mention Jen’s essays on nervousness,healing, and sometimes, how closethe line can be. But I managed to say: I likeyour plant. I have one, like that too. Other Dickinson Poems Mentioned: Tell all the truth but tell it slant – (covered in Audrey Molloy’s episode of Melody or Witchcraft) I like a look of Agony Writers & works mentioned: Mark Nepo’s “If You Want a True Friend” James Crews (James’ Melody or Witchcraft episode releases October 19, 2026) Tayari Jone’s novel Kin Marie Howe’s “What the Living Do” Jane Kenyon’s “Otherwise” Audre Lorde June Jordan’s “Poetry for the People” Marge Piercy’s “To Be of Use,” from Circles on the Water Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Gate A4” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kathrynpetruccelli.substack.com/subscribe
