night lantern

frozen in time , my shadow moves with my flickering light
diminished through the years of solitude and wait.
the night lantern keeps giving me hope
a hope i longed to find in so many i loved.

clinging to each of them, i cried , 'relieve me of this pain'
scared , biwildred faces was all i saw in response,
hands desparately trying to detach me from them
to shake of the liability they had, to flee

when they fled my side , abandoning my heart forever
i was cold and barren , but thats so predictable
pity my condition fori had no one to love
no one to call my own, no one to support me

everynight i would look into my lantern ,shining bright
in strom and struggle,i would watch the flame diminishing
and flaring up in the wind ,days , weeks and months passed,
with the hot summer days and windless warm nights
my lantern shone brighter,i had waited patiently for days now

not a word i heard from them,rainy and hail,autumn mornings ,
not a sight , or a voice i heard seasons passed and years ,
a decade i still wait ,i do
but nothing is void anymore,

my garden has bloomed fresh flowers ,the harvest is over
there is enough oil to light several lanterns
yet when i look at the one lantern through the mirror every night
i know its glow shall always be golden and bright

teriyaki winters

one often wonders what kolkata winters should be like. now that the city of joy is just a politicians toy and is several degrees filthier than it was even when we were in school. however the specific punch still resides in these lovely winter mornings like now ,when i am writing this.
the almost seducing swish of the janitors brooms on alley in from of my house , the sweet smell of the maid's freshly washed hair, and the half burned milk and almost freshly baked buttered bread fills in my environment with this overwhelming feeling of sucess.
i sit back on my chair in pride , smiling to myself how much i love, my neighborhood , more so my veranda and alley below.early winter mornings in kolkata is paradise relived everyday in several unique ways . as the day falls and the swishing and scrubbing get replaced by the drilling and boomings of the large constructions in my neighborhood . the sweetness regains its punch , almost pungent and odorous yet thought provoking , somewhere very deep rooted- just like the drilling noise , making a steady humming inside one's mind.
my city with all her concrete contours and barren-ed out greenery seems much more beautiful in winters, though the dust seems a bit to intolerable and the sun still grills out the sweat , yet the somberness of evenings is quite a catch.
when the sun sets right at 5 or before, the city tends to a silent wisper , as if a cry, a need to be loved ,just like the cravings i have when my beloved isn't around. this is when my heart goes out to kolkata , to her sudden and shy sweetness, to her chlorinated water, and intolerable stench , to her dusty roads and unbearable menfolk.
she so resembles a teriyaki chicken , so soft,so sweet, yet grilled and smoky ,almost always a culinary delicacy.
kolkata does make me long for her specially in the winters when i long for other beautiful delicacies in my heart.

storm

her silent tears were almost hidden by the raindrops on her face
her eyes half closed and not searching anymore
her face calm for once after the storm, or was it just before
her body trembling to the cold sting of the rain , almost pale
yet she stood, for reasons we may not implore.

her silent tears were almost negligible tonight
was it freedom? or was it pain of survival
her hands were sore,her arms were bleeding
the blood made rivulets down her body
yet she stood for she had no reason to fall

her silent tears would end with the storm.
her body ached to rest , her head felt heavy as lead
her feet were losing ground, her love had left today
years of agony and strife,and tolerance was over now
yet she stood ,tired , not beaten though , not dead anymore

her silent tears would scream out her truth tonight
her mind most stable when she resisted with all her might
her head held high , her being fighting one last night
the fresh smell of peace, the feel of respect surged back
yet she stood ,beneath her feet he lay ,gone for ever

her silent tears would end yet another war again
she cried, her eyes had lost their color long back
her heart bleeding for the last time , no more
she moved away slowly , staggering yet not broken
yet, tonight she loved most, herself ,
tonight she started loving again