SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

Heart Yearns

 

…heart yearns

to revisit

elapsed life stages

childhood

adolescence

old homes

old friends

because no matter

how old our bodies may get

they say the heart

never wears wrinkles

 

...heart yearns

to wear

the cloak of happiness

walking backwards

to the carefree days

amidst verdant landscapes

boundaryless

because no matter

how old one gets

they say, the heart never

needs to be jumpstarted

fuelled by happiness

 

... the heart is such

it bears

in its four chambers

love

compassion

empathy

concern

desirous of reaching

out to loved ones

even when it starts

the last swan dance

because they say

however, the old one gets

these traits, in the heart

stay embedded

©️Snigdha Agrawal

Identity Crisis

 

I thought I knew who I was

a bit of Mom, a bit of Dad

a patchwork

of genes crisscrossed

hard to hazard a guess

In my head everything

stays messed

 

Mom… some concurred

during childhood years

Phased out into… Dad

when grew

into an adult

Looked into the mirror

image gave

a quizzical look

as if to say

'keep guessing'.

 

I displayed traits

none of them possessed

features nonidentical

to either of them

Then was I

picked up from

an orphanage?

they never mentioned

©Snigdha Agrawal

 

Memorabilia

 

Why is it I keep rewinding

the memory spool

to those days

that in the present context

bears little meaning?

   a burst of scarlet Easter lilies

   in fenced gardens,

   we'd pluck to

   gift the class teacher

   Throughout spring

   those garlands of jasmine

   with needle and thread

   we'd string

   and then hang with reverence

   on photo frames of those

   whom we'd never met

   long deceased

 

And morning

   walks through thicket fields

   cows grazing, mooing

   patiently waiting to hear

   the train's whistle

   carrying coal from Newcastle

   through meadows green

   kids with free reigns to do

   as would please

   few of the many

   preserved childhood

   memories!

© Snigdha Agrawal

 

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL (nee Banerjee) has worked in the corporate sector for over two decades. She enjoys writing all genres of poetry, prose, short stories, and travel diaries. Brought up in a cosmopolitan environment, and educated in Convent School/College run by Irish Nuns, she has imbibed the best from Eastern and Western cultures. She has published four books of poems and short stories.  The latest titled TRAIL MIX is a book of short stories, published in 2023 by Authorspress Publishing House and is available on Amazon. in.  This apart, she is widely published in domestic and international anthologies and poetry journals.  A septuagenarian, her passion for writing and travelling continues unabated.