ANURADHA BHATTACHARYYA

ANURADHA BHATTACHARYYA

Nothing

In a void

Stranded

For a short while,

The space

The environment

Chokes you.

You fear

The limit,

The possibility

Of containing nothing,

Screaming to be released

From the trap.

It must be

Terrifying –

The fear of

The uncontrollable

The unknown

The lack of a prospect.

It is possible

To demonstrate

How

A person

Is driven crazy

With the fear

Of nothing.

It will never go

Unless

There is

Acceptance

After which

Progress can be made.

A Droplet

Here comes our enemy

In a droplet.

We perceive it

As an infinitesimal particle

Trying to adhere to our form,

And we writhe with revulsion.

But who are we?

If not a scant bigger droplet,

Overpowered

By the forces of the moon,

And not the least

By the oceans beyond…

On the earth

A droplet is in free surface

Unless confined from above

And so all water lies flat.

I am free;

You are free

And so is the man’s enemy.

We win if we stand apart

Coz our internal attractive forces

Keep each one

Occupying the least surface area

In volume.

The Warrior

It matters not

Who pulled your leg

And dashed your dreams to the ground;

It matters not how heavily

You were wounded;

How cruelly your assets

Have been snatched away,

How desperately you needed them.

It matters not

What you were in the past,

What you had achieved,

How your ladder has been

Hacked away from below.

All the things you had

Were not destined to last;

They have pulled you up so far

And they have done their job…

From where your leg dangles

Over the deep chasm

Haul yourself with a masterful stroke

That the world has not seen yet

And would be amazed to watch now –

From that panting pull

Draw all others in who dwell

In the darkness below

And never mind

If one of them was also that

Who first pulled your leg.

ANURADHA BHATTACHARYYA

Dr. ANURADHA BHATTACHARYYA is an Indian writer. She has been awarded the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi's Best Book Award for English Novel of the years 2016 and 2019. She is Associate Professor of English, Postgraduate Government College, Sector-11, Chandigarh.