“You never will amount to much,” you said quietly. Not acknowledging that quiet is not silence. Unlike the silence that fell when you died for me, absolute and forever silencing the noise. Quiet calls for attention to the hum of voices in the background, the koel that sings, the wind that whistles, the moon that…
Category: Uncategorized
Dregs
Last night the lights blew out one by one into themselves and darkness came flooding out of my breath as I slept. I dreamed we returned to the house by the pond, back among those we loved, alive and dead, not one living besides yourself and I. I woke wild-eyed, grasping the pre-dawn-light filtering through…
never alone… how long is a piece of string?
if i said i do not care that you were a doctor, or a sweeper, would you forgive me? i imagine you stretched out and weeping over your broken body, watching, not able to look away from the man taking what was never his. if i tell you, you could have been a pauper or…
Birthday wishes…
My father, Striding across the beach at dawn The plank of wood his surf board. Making sand castles with tunnels Waiting for the waves to re-load My father, Indulging whatever the new fancy was. Waiting for me outside school. Calling out my name just because He liked to, the reason was moot. My father, Laying…
From the bedside of a dying man.
Ask me what the finger wrote and I would stop, startled into visions of pages of white which I pencilled with numbers in blue tracing streets in blackened rivers on an old map gathering dust the paper yellowed by time, corners thumbed into shreds turning as brittle as the parchment skin of your hands that…
A poem by Lily Myers
To a Girl Who Doesn’t Yet Know “First you are untouched. I won’t say pure, which brings to mind white dresses and eyes that linger on the fabric like oil stains. But untouched; in a world of your own making, dancing around a rainbow scarf (the inexplicable object of your adoration) on the carpet of…
AtoZ theme reveal.
Okay, it’s that time of year. Time for the AtoZ blogging, for long-time followers, the April thingie I do. If you do not like poetry, now is the time to de-link/unfollow me. Yes, do something about it (fair warning) because this year, I am exploring poetry forms. It’s new to me too. Yes, I am…
For my daughters.
I give you this cloak in shades of grey that sat on me when I was young. Yes, it’s rough, hand-woven and stained, a hand-me-down from my mother who herself wore it lightly slung. My father frowned when he saw me in that cloak as he looked away, his eyes held a tear but no…
The Playlist
The nib sticks to paper the ink has dried my words shred the page and shrivel inside I have my music though, who needs to write? I have those songs of yester-years carefully compiled. The playlist is a time-machine, it took me there today to that home of long ago, to time that played on…
From a waiting room.
Lady in the waiting room Vermillion smeared on fore head. Sandal paste on your neck Hands buried in beads Fumbling fingers moving The mouth chanting a prayer As your mother’s tired eyes wait Her hand clings to her colostomy bag Patiently, just as the doctor said. I see you have come from the temple His…
Just this.
How can I let you know That choices are never choices That the options you have Are often governed By voices, not your own? That feelings are just feelings They pass. What hurt yesterday Today is water off a duck’s arse. You change, those ideals You wear high upon your breast, They change. You think …
Death wish.
I carved myself a death wish the day you died “Not one day over forty two”, I said “I cannot live more than half a life Without you.” I was denied. Nights like these I am glad that I am alive. When I watch my daughters dance And think of nights of chance With you,…
ipsita banerjee 