VANDANA KUMAR

VANDANA KUMAR

FIRST OF JANUARY

They play Auld Lang Syne somewhere

The neighbours lustily shriek at the Cinderella hour

I position a New Desk top calendar on the table

Unread messages gleam on my cellphone in orange

So some pharma company has wished me good health

Another text tempts me with a winter sale.

And there rests the turquoise scarf gifted to me in a summer of passion

And a boarding pass in a frayed book

The first of January is made of such things

Things to hold on to

And things to simply let go!!!

ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!     

(Tribute to a cousin who passed away at the age of 48)

A tar black storm descended

The family plunged into darkness

The lashing rain the brooding grey

Nature in unison in our grief

What conspiracy did someone hatch up there?

His need infinitely greater than ours

In that abyss of despair

I felt a stir

You came to us

In repeated dream to wipe our tears

In the guise of a sunbeam

To rebuild and repair

In every flutter of a summer still leaf

You kissed our souls

There you were

Today no more

Our sunshine spirit

Gone through that mysterious door

A voyage so transient

Wish you could have lingered some more

But in this ephemeral land of transit

Only the good die young!

VOYAGER

Quo Vadis my lone voyager?

What takes you on this sojourn?

Your shadow once chased the Manhattan skyline

Giddily rubbing shoulders in corridors of power

The seasoned traveler

What restlessness does your solitude seek?

Your residence was once a million ports

And three loves you inflamed en route

Friends lost count of your shifting zip codes

As your rucksack emptied of each travel souvenir

Wither goest thou today passenger?

As you stand on platform number 7

The station of the now, not so sleepy town

An infinite wait

And yet no sweeter sight –

Than of the slow train, that takes you home.

VANDANA KUMAR

VANDANA KUMAR is a bon vivant who loves travelling, working with young minds and exploring  possibilities beyond the ordinary. A French teacher and an active member of various quiz clubs, her passions include playing the piano. She contributes poems regularly to magazines like GloMag and has been published in a couple of anthologies. One of her poems was shortlisted and published by the “All India Poetry Society” (All India 2017 poetry competition). Poetry for her is her stress buster, her flight of fancy and strangely, what keeps her rooted too.