Monobina Nath The curls on the sky Split into lotus and Pistachio tint Blooms on My palette That has no paint- To dip, To revive My ageing leaves, Driving in dreams To and fro- An imaginary swing. I’m holding my paintbrush- Firmly, intimately To fill, to erase- My thirsty canvas To get moist By the…
Tag: poetry
TWI Poetry: Bathing an Old Woman
Basudhara Roy Coming to an old woman’s bodyis like coming to the end of the earth.A rainforest weary of plundershrinks here to autumnal renunciation. In her, an ancient monumentstanding erect to generations of awe seeks anonymity, dissolution.The face rises and sets with the sun. The bones’ currency spent, they lookfor reasons to succumb to gravity.Decalcified, they…
2 poems / Yamini Pathak
Kolkata Rain Skies boil over, lashof wind against the willof slim trees that curve, Apsarasin arabesque, sent from Indra’sheavens to tempt us from our duties Slanting sheets mud scentspaints pant-bottoms and hemsof sarees draggle wet and heavy Rickshaw-pullers slip and strain lean muscleagainst ribcage in streets with no drainage Come, lay down your armsbefore the…
2 poems / Gavin Barrett
Konkan The rain is no god of mercy for the koli fishmonger,her sari tucked between her legs her pomfrets in her basket flashing silver praise for the downpourwhile she fears for her husband. The shore is jet and foam, the black-skinned basalt swollenpeople breaking on the tide of monsoon funerals the church bells tollingdeath and…
The Tea Pot
By Gita Viswanath I let my life sit in a teapoton the window sillone grey evening. Three long stridesUp and downWas all that the room allowed. Cracking my knucklesDid I paceWith bated breath. Finally, he ambled inHis laughter mingling with theMid-range of Johnny Cash. My heart fluttered like the wet wings of a birdThe Darjeeling’s…
Taking Root
By Sandra Ngo “I realized that war was monstrous. If it didn’t kill those it touched, it took away a piece of their souls, so they could never be whole again.”― Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Mountains Sing Our mothers were birthedin emerald green and clay dust,the land of ruby dragonfruit.The first sister arrived on…
Gulmohar, When it Rains
By Devika Mathur The shades of skin- glowing like April morningsa soft warm tone of Gulmohar tree upon my eyelids-a doorway to oceans, two pebble eyesOpen in the open skyThis tree a meteor of clouds to my mindto remind me of Earth, soil and home. Rains: a thunder of God’s voice Gulmohar tree- pockets of…
Fish, With a Dash of Lime
By Debnita Chakravarti When the first few dropsFall through the cracked coverOf the enamel potWhere the fish lie dyingThey freeze. For a moment.Then fins fan upAnd gills gasp outThe tails thrash hardAs they jostle aroundSeeking the wet world;Their moss-green glideThrough cool dark depths,Of the village pondBefore they were encircledIn enamel agony, bare and dry.Untimely rain…
Unknotting
By Basudhara Roy I open the heart’s cage and let fly a hundred pigeons into the endless sky, the impatient beating of their wings a reminder that under the shroud of silence, life’s restlessness still lives and the flesh, flawed and frail as it is, is wooed to raptures by a single spell of rain….
Three Poems by Sayan Aich Bhowmik
In Her Sleep Your shirt buttonsIn my handsTurn like the planets.Around themA ring ofAll my evening skies.I can only see thingsThrough cracked window panes.The rains wait for meBy blinking traffic lightsAnd have left the carsWaiting for the policeTo rescue them from the flood.In your cityThey auction off summer eveningsAt the behest of thoseWho gaze at…
The Woman Inc. 