Panbazar

[it is with much trepidation that i am about to paste on this page, the following poem. it is about my most favourite place in the entire city--Panbazar. For anyone acquainted with Guwahati, this is one of the most familiar of places. historically laden, scenting of books, Panbazar is a living story of Guwahati's past. of course, the following composition is my tribute to this beautiful place...]

smell of books

ideas wafting all over,

honks and soot

the muezzin’s call

students...smiling shining

readers...poring over books

madhu channawallah selling his wares

a lone cow grazing in from nowhere

lovers sharing panipuris

cars and bikes cycles and rickshaws walkers

all in a mad scramble

in this gulley of books,

there is no space for tears

memories whisper secrets

the old nods at the new

Murphy Radio smiles in reminiscence

 College Studio clicks on…

 crystallizing moments on reel

Colourful magazines hail you

Pavement book stalls, 
adda points

where ideas merge with love,

where hatred diffuses in harmony.

summery mornings, wintry afternoons, rainy sunsets

Panbazar takes it all...

ennui

ennui
settles
like cobwebs
on a restless mind,

where skies blush no longer--
on mornings, nor on evenings.

untold fears explode
unheard cries cascade, and torment
unseen emotions
lurk like venom, beneath the sheen

silence swathes the world
creating,
little islands.

To Sethe, with love

Naked tree on a field of coal
Festers of pain
Gagged cries…

The tree rots with time
as wrinkles blot a strange face
wizened with servitude.

(for Sethe from Toni Morrison's Beloved)

Chastity

ribbon of sunlight
descending on a solitary road
ensheaths a poor child, afraid...
lest the dirty eyes of a passing car
Devour its innocence.

Silence

Silence hangs in the air
as an emaciated wintry sun
plunges into the River,
Splashing orange on red-blue.
Silence screeches...

Silence Retold

The setting sun sings a song of desperation
(as) a wanton night stealthily sails in:
the satin moonbeam humming a eerie tune.
Silence ruminates....churning out meanings.

Tomorrow

When the mellow sun diffuses in the horizon,
Leaving behind a lonely feel,
Golden sands reflect
the last speckles of fading light,
Reminding us,
Tomorrow we meet again.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow,
When filth sheaths you in,
When mist blinds you,
remember,
Hope will pierce through,
and let light flow
and thus,
 begin a new story.

She Stood Alone

She stood alone

On a silky evening
at the edge of a cliff
Watching the orange sun melt
in the nape of a hill
beside a ribbon of blue.
She could smell tangerine.


Cacophonous notes
broke into fragments
where she stood.

Nestled amidst nowhere

she sat,

counting moments drifting away.

Solitude was her best friend.

Evening melted away

as dusk forayed in.

She looked up,

A lone star shone in the deep blue sea

A tear crystallized.

Blank

a tornado rages,
voices whisper surreptitiously--
walk off, walk off,
She deserves you not,
She desires you not.

A smirk blots out all reason.
Indeed, says he, i'm a wastrel
i've hurt who have loved,
loved who has betrayed.

And today----
Let me end all agony
Let me, oh let me pine for her no longer
She desires me not,
She desires me not.

the Tornado rages on
Voices grow Louder--
"Walk off". "Walk off".
"Go away".
 " Leave me alone".

Early next morning,
A lifeless form sprawled at her door.
The ambulance arrives, goes away.
And she lives happily ever after.