AMITA RAY

AMITA RAY

PERMANENCE

The Moon and I walked together

Measured strides, in the milky terrain

I stumbled and stopped, the moon stooped to pause

Eternity, in the brief speck of a moment

A pulsating truth was born.

My shadow and I in mutual submission

Hang on in infinite trajectory

Sewing edges of discord.

The togetherness both haunts and comforts

Paving a labyrinth to perfection.

If only you could have stayed on

If only you could have walked beside me

By the sea of turmoil

I could unravel to you the mystery

Of that hidden pearl, we tried to seek.

DERILIUM

Drip drop, Drip drop

My senses take flight

To a long lost ballad

In the bard’s wanderlust

Is there a rivulet nearby?

Honeybees suck nectar on molten rubble

The fragrance of fresh pastures

Wafts from sores and saline

Ring in candyfloss delight!

The heart then a melting pot

Alive with incandescent love

A doll’s house of fanciful dreams.

Drip drop, Drip drop

Rocks my seasoned frame

Into an obscure slumber in mother’s womb

Is that a compassionate face

Peering at me with bloodshot eyes?

Ah! The blood drops drip in sullied veins

Reaches the cold heart

To bathe a fistful of futile dreams.

Drip drop, Drip drop

Cajoles me to eternal sleep

Carves an epitaph on the tombstone

“Here lies an incorrigible dreamer

Shrouded in crayons and rainbow”

SPRING

The morning breeze tiptoed in

A shaft of sunlight filtered

Through the latticed window.

Nudged out of bed

I flung the window wide open

The breeze and sunlight

Somersaulted and danced free.

My outstretched hands

From the corner of my eyes

Soaked in the golden hue of ripe mahua

The red palash so brightly piquant

Romanced with the butter soft sunlight

In waves of gleeful orange.

The variegated bird’s chirp

Intercepted by the cuckoo’s harping note

Resonate with a gush of joy

And the heart chimes

Spring is in the air!

AMITA RAY

AMITA RAY is a retired associate professor in English and Vice Principal of a college in West Bengal, Her career spans over a period of thirty eight years in different educational institutions. An academic of varied interests she is also a translator  and short story writer. She has translated into English Abanindranath Tagore's KHIRER PUTUL which was published recently. Many of her short stories have been published in popular web magazines  and The Sunday Statesman. She is also a poet and her poems have been published in Glomag, Setu, Dissident Voice.