ANTARA BANERJEE

ANTARA

BANERJEE

 

ALL IN GOOD FAITH

Midas touched us today.

No, we did not turn into gold,

instead, his corrupt ambition

engulfed us with vengeance.

So, all us poets

sat together this day,

conspiring to kill poetry,

to extract gold

out of the very food

we seek to feed our souls with.

And why not?

When we have managed to

bottle water, can air,

sell the 'art of life'?!

Let's do it again!

In the name of 'Art',

at the altar of the Masters of gold.

Let's behead poetry

and drink its blood

in cheap paper cups,

Whore it!

Sell sachets of chopped and brined verses

at the local tuck shop

and create

a brotherhood of innocent murderers-

A guild of the merchants of poetry!

And trust me,

we shall do all this,

in good faith!

Let our poetic liberty

crush poetry

under its grinding teeth

and mangle the words

into an uncouth yellow pulp.

Let us be usher in

our own undoing,

drop by drop,

bit by bit!

(c) All rights reserved. Antara Banerjee

 

CHANGE

Woman! It is about time,

Change yourself!

Your silent, meek endurance

will really not help.

Woman! It is about time,

Change yourself!

Pushing you into fire,

Ram became Purushottam,

He revelled as the hero,

as you were thrown to harm.

Yank that mask of virtue

away from his face!

Woman! What have you done,

to deserve this disgrace!?

Why blindfold yourself Gandhari,

after a husband blind?

Why refuse to see,

and nurture an open mind?

Keep your eyes open

for you must open the world's eyes,

Woman! It is time you wake

and call womanhood to rise!

Who will come to save you

from ravage, rape and shame?

Your husband? Your God?

Your saviours, who never came!

Delude not yourself on stories

of gallantry and charms.

Women! Come together!

Rise up in arms!

Wrap not your tongue in fear and shame

utter the daring word!

Raise your voice against injustice

and let the noise be heard.

Step out under the open sky

the bells of change will chime!

Woman! Etch your history yourself,

upon the walls of time.

let not the fetters of false virtue,

deter your forward march.

Renounce your fears, guilt and shame,

it's time to act harsh.

Tread upon the chest of the stifling

society in you must.

Woman! Be a rebel.

Break free from the past.

No one will arm you with weapons

like the Goddess of war.

Bathe in your own power, woman!

Brace yourself! Be sure!

It's time you stirred gunpowder

in your blood yourself.

Woman! Know your own strength,

You need no help!

Look into the mirror and promise,

to the woman you behold.

That you shall not just seek beauty,

but strive to be bold.

Seek not charity, solace or pity

you have your pride to redeem.

Let the world stand humbled in awe

invoke the power within.

Stand up woman! Waer your crown.

There's much more in store.

Live your life in honour and glory

It's worth dying for!!

 (c) All rights reserved. Antara Banerjee

 

RENDEZVOUS

The furies

are pouring down

on the earth tonight...

the awesome symphony

of the clouds

and the rains,

is reverberating

around the dark firmament.

Thunderous applauses

are clapping across the skies

as lightning cleaves

the doors of the prudish heaven.

The oceans surge

with crazed waves,

lashing out on the shores,

the tortured rocks

shatter and crumble

into the turbulent waters helplessly...

See

what was fated for you and me tonight!

We were destined to be swept away!

to drown in a deluge,

to die fluid death!

To be washed

to the shores of another world...

to another dream...

It's a pity,

we failed to keep the rendezvous

Lost the magnificent moment!

Why death?

you ask....

Don't you see?

Some deaths are

more precious than life...

sweeter than several lifetimes...

Those that would endure...

only if we had the heart...

had courage enough,

to meet them!

(c) All rights reserved. Antara Banerjee

ANTARA BANERJEE

ANTARA BANERJEE is best known for her two books, 'The Goddess in Flesh' and 'To be a Woman'. Recipient of the prestigious Sanmarg Aparajita Award 2019 as a Young Achiever for her contribution in the field of literature, she is Masters in Image and Communication from Goldsmiths College, London and a graduate from the Presidency College of Kolkata. Apart from being a novelist, she is also a poet in three languages. She writes verses in English, Bangla and Hindi. In a language that is marked by boldness and passion at the same time, she endeavours to transport her readers to a world that can only be described in words, a world that is shrouded in charming intrigue. Because, words can evoke imagination, that is constrained by nothing!