Two Poems by Pravat Kumar Padhy

 

I am a Woman
 

 
she remembers
the thick tears of her parents
she steps out with blessings                                                
her virtual umbilical cord is still intact
for an extended home with someone else
 
like a fish
shifted to an aquarium
she tries to share
her aroma and warmth
as a fresh flower in the new garden
 
for a while
everything looks to glitter
she begins
to add her radiance
to make the home ardour and glee
 
baffled with
the obliqueness
she sinks into oblivion
as if the sun suddenly slips to set
before the bird could be able to return
 
she is asked
to travel the untraveled
ahead of her
the narrow wild path
leading to the forest of darkness
 
like a rose
she offers aroma to all
how strange
the thorns that protect
pierce her to bleed at last
 
the bud
awaits to bloom
at dawn
in a surprise move
the clouds eclipse the early sun
 
like a doormat
he scratches her skin
as if a mopping cloth
he cleanses his dust
ungracefully pouring the foam of his sin
 
he compels
her to breathe in silence
with all limitations
like a prisoner of war
bowing head to surrender
 
the moon
is eclipsed
with no-fault
the baby in the womb
to live in the caged night again
 
the seed
is thrown into darkness
abandoned she feels
as life rejuvenates
she gathers hope to breathe
 
the sun sets 
behind the distant hills
shades of dusk
veils her youthful life
sinking hope in the early evening 

so short
her joy of life
the aroma
of fallen flowers she gathers
the epilogue of the manuscript
 
she sprints
ahead carrying
her shadow
the journey as if stretches
loaded with sorrows over sorrows
 
fallen feathers
she often collects
wishes them to fly
with the wings of hope
in the vast open sky again
 
a nest
on the solitary branch…
the uneasy storm
screams through midnight
tightly she holds hope of her breath
 
she stares
at her glimmering eyes
on the album pages
would the time ever revisit
the wonderful joy with parents 
 
in despair
she sprints to hold
the rising sun
to gather the warmth
for her forsaken womb
 
the sun sets halfway
through the twilight sky
along the shore
waves keep on breaking
stacking her old memories
 
she feels
barren and void…
often wonders
if time would fill the space
with rekindled life in the shells
 
mournfully she
recounts the cloudy past
rays of hope
may beam gentle warmth
and brighten her forest-way
 
a blade of grass
on the rocky surface
the solitude kite
with a long thread of hope
grapples with the stillness of the sky
 
a baby runs
after the butterflies …
she wishes
spring to garnish
the garden of her own heaven
 
the bud
is yet to see the sunlight
in foggy morning
she steps ahead
deep into the pain of frozen evening
 
gentle wind
muses the strings
of calmness
the boat ripples memories
sailing over her lost poetry 
 
the new moon
peeps above the thatched home
a baby is born
unfolding promises
life is a poem and music its journey
 
she desires to revise
the pristine manuscript
for her daughter
as she reckons with a crescent smile
‘I am a Woman’ to prove again

 

The Living Fossil


When time whirls
The existence transfigures
Into an unseen end.
Breath is halted
Leaving you to rest
In deep rock silence.
 
I collect the ashes
And stand in stillness
Near the bank of the river.
Solemnly bow my head
And mingle with you
In the pristine flow.

My emotion drifts
Like a fallen leaf
Under the stormy wind.
Thoughts frozen
As icicles in this winter chill.
 
Dwelling in my past
I helplessly beg
To resign from the forest
Of loneliness.
 
Today I sense
You speak something
With a smile in my dream
Consoling me
With the warmth
Of the new sunshine.
 
Like an iceberg
my memory sails
Under the melting ice.
Wish the flow of time
To reunite you again!
  

 

Pravat Kumar Padhy is an awarded Indian English Poet, haikuist and essayist. He has obtained his Master of Science and Technology and a Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology, ISM Dhanbad. His literary work is cited in Interviews with Indian Writing in English, Spectrum History of Indian Literature in English, Alienation in Contemporary Indian English Poetry, History of Contemporary Indian English Poetry, etc. Pravat’s Japanese short forms of poetry have been widely published. “How Beautiful”, a poem written by him, is included in the Undergraduate English Curriculum at the university level. His haiku have been included in the school curriculum on the haiku project of ‘The Trier High School’, Chicago.

 

His haiku are featured at “Haiku Wall”, Historic Liberty Theatre Gallery in Bend, Oregon and Mann Library, Cornell University, USA. His tanka is included in “Kudo Resource Guide”, University of California, Berkeley.

 

He is a panel judge of ‘The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Awards’ and is on the editorial board of ‘Under the Basho’.

 
His publications can be read at http://pkpadhy.blogspot.com