Died a senseless death The body waits In the crowded funeral homes For the rich In lime covered mass graves Of the poor Tortured and twisted In the agony of birth Breathless and blown By gathering storm clouds The cadaver awaits A decent burial.
Category: poetry
I: Itinerant : The roads I take
On my way to work I often shut my eyes and in my mind I am on a road that does not race through a concrete jungle Where there are no buildings or the jostle of cars Where roads wind through mist ridden hills Lined with pine trees that rise above the clouds Curving through…
H: Hazard: This poem
I wrote no poem yesterday, The words dried up, constricting My throat, like the onset of a bad cold, A hacking cough and fever. Fever is a bad word now, Being sick is a colossal mistake. The cousin passed away last week No, it wasn’t the Novel Corona virus She had been suffering, and was…
E: Edges : Time
Time moves differently here, Slowly, sluggishly, lips clinging To the edge of the glass. Time weeps unshed tears here Fears that went unnoticed Bursting open scabs on the wounds Time laughs at mankind here Those who think they can divide us Do we not all bleed when hurt? Time sees our true selves here As…
In praise of women
Who is she? Who is she that shines at night Glittering, as upon a stage? Who is it that braves the crowds Every day on the local train? Who is the lady who hides a breast Under her sari as her child feeds? Who is the woman wildly reaching For the alms you throw at…
A: Amusical: Tone Deaf
I would give and arm and a leg To play the piano for you again. You would lie back on the sofa And my little fingers would pick out the tune. Alas my fingers are now too soft The notes just squiggly shapes Music beaten out of my life By choice, or was it compulsion?…
Timeline (photographs)
Scrolling through timelines I realise how we mentally compartmentalize Events in our head. Look at these pictures… That was the last dinner we went for together Here is the wedding the year after Ma died. See those are of the first vacation without her, This was the last holiday with Baba. It’s funny How the…
Leaving Pune, March 2020.
Ater the clouds have been folded and put away, All that remains is the moonlightThose stacks of linen, cool white sheetsThat smell of sunshine and your smiles.I look outside the portholeWatching clouds bathed in whiteThe memories that escaped, refused to be launderedScattering in wisps of bitter sweet delight.What is with the full moon and I?Those…
Illumination
Jamshedpur lulled my senses Each evening’s walk in the large Jubilee Park Winding between old trees and curated lawns. Do you know, they are setting up lights? To make it look like a fairy land Or another ostentatious Indian wedding I won’t be here. And not a minute too soon. For as I went for…
She
First thing this morning she blew me away Broke me into tears. The desperation on her face Mingled with my years. What is my life? What have I done? And who cares About my sterile dreams? Privileged, predicated A stranger to real hardship I go about professing My inflated importance, While she rages against the…
ipsita banerjee 