This poem is based on The Day 6 prompt for NaNoWriMo. As evident from the title, it is based on the book 1984 by George Orwell, and the line that inspired it was "We are the dead."
1984: A Vignette
City of Joy: NaPoWriMo Day 5
This poem is a creative take on the Day 5 prompt for NaPoWriMo 2021. The entire poem is written in blank verse, i. e. each line is set in iambic pentameter, while the first letter of each line corresponds to that of the poem 'Postcard from Kashmir' by Agha Shahid Ali. As the memory of Kashmir is dear to Shahid, so is the memory of Kolkata beloved to me.
Diving into Rushdie’s Sea of Stories
I am, in general, known as a book-loving person. In the past few months, however, (thanks but no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic), I found myself drifting apart from my books, slowly losing my reading habit. I felt fidgety and unable to concentrate, or I fell asleep due to the fatigue from my share of … Continue reading Diving into Rushdie’s Sea of Stories
Thoughts on A Tale of Two Cities
About twelve years ago, while helping my dad to clean out old and unwanted books and notebooks, I found a tattered, silver-fish infested copy of an abridged edition of A Tale of Two Cities among the piles of schoolbooks that had once belonged to some cousin or uncle, generations ago. At that age, in the kind … Continue reading Thoughts on A Tale of Two Cities
Night’s Lament
Gazing into the dark distance, I listen for love songs sighing amidst the barren branches. The fireflies of last summer have been washed away by the salt of dry expanses of solitude. The shadow of a desert storm wrecks the remnants of an unsung ghazal. I shut my eyes to the galaxies that stare at … Continue reading Night’s Lament
Wonderlust
I dream of travelling Like I dream of a home Far away from all the madness Of the world I live in. I carry all these tickets To places I've never visited, In neat stacks And get lost in one Everytime the world seems too dark. And while you breathe in the musk Of distant … Continue reading Wonderlust
The Limbo
What do you do With a mind that is A mess of words, Tear-soaked dreams, And a thousand winters? What do you do When your mind Is a perpetual battleground Where unheard voices Whisper tales of death into your ears Like a forgotten lullaby? What do you do When the world closes in on you … Continue reading The Limbo
Autumn Ending
A winter sun risesAs I revel in the autumn air.My morning is bathed in the smell of shiuliScattered across the gardenThat was covered in concreteAnd made into a warehouse nine, ten years ago.Where are you now?Seven thousand and seven hundred milesLie between us, as youbreathe in the aromaof last night's dinnerSimmering for five minutesBefore your … Continue reading Autumn Ending
Stay
While the sun was busy In its westward descent, A little sparrow Perched on the edge Of my terrace railing. But just as I took One step Towards it— (Merely to give it a loving pat) It stretched its neck, Spread its wings, And took off Who knows where? And I thought of you, Stretching … Continue reading Stay
Poetry, Beloved, or Bird?
The hunt is not an exercise of willBut patient love relaxing on a hillTo note the movement of a timid wing;Until the one who knows that she is lovedNo longer waits but risks surrendering --Nissim EzekielYou study me in mute stillness,Like a predator. Waiting to pounceOn my wings first, eyes next,And then my heart; You … Continue reading Poetry, Beloved, or Bird?
The Writer Who Sings 