SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

 

Filtration

Two minds, one moment, a story unfolds

Yet each recalls what the other withholds

A sunlit day, a breeze that swayed

Was it laughter, or silence that stayed?

One sees the sky painted crimson and gold

The other swears it was grey and cold

A song that played, a word that was said,

It’s hard to tell whose memory holds truth.

Whispers of time, like shifting sands

Slip through the grasp of our trembling hands

Are we creators, or prisoners of thought,

Lost in the web, our minds have wrought?

No victor emerges, no right nor wrong

Just echoes of a once-heard song

For in the heart of each memory’s fight,

Lie fragments of shadows, neither dark nor light

And so, our stories are differently told

Laced with humour, happiness or sorrow

One presents the brightness of life

The other’s canvas appears potholed

Letting Go

She shut the door without warning,

Her journey from life to death, a secret

Resolute, she chose her time

Leaving no room for goodbyes

I kissed her still-warm forehead

Touched her feet, seeking forgiveness,

But cracks of guilt widened within me

As plans to serve her remained incomplete

For years, I clung to her belongings

Her sarees, her favourite batik print

Relics of a life now past

Refusing to let go of her shadow

Last night, she appeared in my dream,

Chiding me, "Move on, let go.

Guilt serves no purpose now;

You did enough, and I am at peace."

Her smile—etched in my heart

A final image from the pyre—

It taught me the beauty she carried,

Unseen by her, others cherished

Like butterflies unaware of their wings

She left an indelible mark on others.

The moral? Love fully, forgive freely,

And carry forward their light when they're gone

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL

SNIGDHA AGRAWAL (nee Banerjee) has over two decades of corporate work experience. 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, available on Amazon. in.  She has also been widely published in domestic and international anthologies and poetry journals and has recently been nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2024 for poetry.  A septuagenarian, her passion for writing and travelling continues unabated.