Different shores.

All seas are one, in a manner of speaking,water flows to water. Standing at the Bay of Bengalmy feet are touched by waves that may have kissedPacific shores. No matter how we look at it,all Gods too, are one, even the ones that are not.  I thought of my mother, on a Fowler’s bed,who could…

dust to dust

The end is always near, Death waits right round  the corner, softly  watching your approach nearer than the second before;  Fear is superfluous: for all that is born, will  die one day; the jewels you lust after will glitter in someone else’s ear. The house we built, too  will fall to seed with the wind…

Water on water (#worldpoetryday)

Water on water: the things that matter. Impossible to describe the deep empty longing, in the voice of dogs.  My childhood was elsewhere.  The light shone,  a thread through the eye  of a needle I had to fit into.  Calcutta is a big city, the grandest in our region.  But the wind still howls,  specially…

The study

The first November rain fell, bringing  with it a mild scent of winter, I know you will not be in your study, a room that I have not, cannot, enter ever nor will, where the door always was open  for me. Yet, in my mind today,  I revisit that home, I think of your aftershave,…

The Ganges at Chinsurah

Floating on the river I realise  it’s not the setting sun or the bridge  in the distance, it’s a woman in whose  arms lives have been lost and loved.  The river today is not the same as yesterday and the water snaking will be changing soon, The river today changes by the second yet remains…

The graveyard.

In this graveyard a boy once proposed to me,  We were young and callous and the world  Lay at our feet. We climbed the broken wall  To get inside, we did that often, my friends and I Daring each other to stay on till dark, exploring Among tombstones, reading aloud the words  Left for the…

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…

The dying.

I often worried that when the call came, I’d be at work But the afternoon my mother dies, I am resting at home after lunch. So I tell myself to snap out of it And later as we prepare my mother, I think  this is the only time I will see her like this, because…

Full moon again

Again it’s just the two of us And you hide behind the clouds And as I pick my way on the terrace Your light still shines through,  Cutting through my firmament  The Kamini smells just as sweet The baby lemons nod in the breeze The darkness in my heart complete But not all darkness is cloying …

Kalapokhri

It poured, the sound of rainpounding on the water reminding me of rain drenched swimswhen days were fat and full. I threw away the bracelet that day, let it sink in the dark waters of Kalapokhri Not wanting it manacled around my wrist anymore. I am swayed by my thoughts. That swim in circles, memories…

Grief

One day I will cry. And I will cry a river Cascading over landscapes unknown Thundering over rocks and stones Carving a path of its very own. And when the tears finally meet the sea,  It will be on a widened estuary Peaceful and calm, no deltas for me No dredging on the edge to…

To Rubic (on turning 30).

Can mere words ever be enough for a son who taught me the art of taking myself less seriously, and made me a child again! The son who filled my world with fresh pots of paint colours I never knew existed bleeding into my grey refrain. Those unforgettable drives, longer swims, “the dark room”, getting…