Hyderabad-born Akella maintains that her work is the inspiration of two archetypes, the Persian Rumi and the Goddess Kali, “born,” she says, “out of a rage for justice.” Her poetic voice, modulated by all the highs and lows on the spiritual register, is as different from the voices of two other Indian-American poets, Purvi Shah and Jay Deshpande, as theirs are from each other.