Three Poems by Mitali Chakravarty

 

A Bug’s Fantasy

 

A light bug hovers near a bulb,

part of a multitudinous crowd

attracted by the brilliance of the

shine. This life of mine, the insect

 

thinks, is precious and I will glitter

with brightness, be recognised for

my refulgence. I am beautiful and

unique. My fame will spread far,

 

obliterate even the lamp, the

sun, the stars, the moon. A blind

bat swoops swiftly swallowing

the moths and bugs. Stillness.

  

Garden Stories

 

I know how difficult is it to

grow bougainvillea in the snow

or tulips in Delhi heat. Yet,

she tried to find a way. But

 

when it came to marriage,

she let it go. The implant to

a new home did not sit well.

The smells. The food. The lack

 

of love. It all cloyed to indigestion.

How long can you live with a

stomach upset? So, she moved

on to grow tulips in Delhi heat

and bougainvillea in Arctic snow.

 

An Old Song

 

Can I write you a poem?

A poem about my home —

where emerald and gold

shone in mustard fields,

 

where jasmines sang on trees,

where colours swam across

varied lands, hills undulated

into seas, flowers flitted in

 

the breeze, wafting on the

bed spread with nature’s

grandiose treat. But that

is as it was. Now I have these —

 

— these hurts from the past

that invade my dreams. They

are no longer real. But that

is still my song, my poem

 

about all the wrongs, all the

ravages that leave residues.

My home is broken now.

How can I build a new song?

 

 

Mitali Chakravarty has founded the Borderless Journal. Her writing has appeared in hardcopy and online, in anthologies, journals and newspapers. More recently her poetry has appeared in Dissident Voice, Countercurrents and Daily Star.