Three Poems by Dr Antara Mukherjee

 

Builder

 

After the storm, a leaf points its soul towards me.

I drown my bruises in the offering.

Surrender is medicinal.

 

Crimson joy overflows from the neighbouring petals.

Moist mud in the tub lends me nourishment.

 

I cross the bridge from where sorrows hang.

With slender white pipes,

new tents erect in my mind

 

 

Balm

 

The square Camel colour-box smells of childhood.

At home and in school, its slender sticks

filled my quarrels with pied hues of light.

Innocence knew no darkness.

 

In the growing years,

the mirage of happiness discarded the half-eaten sticks.

I created rainbows with sands and seas.

The rectangular box gathered dust at my desk.

 

After the mid-life storms, I now colour my canvas

with ash-white butts of experience.

An old water-proof coat    

protects my innocent dew-drops.

 

Yet, when I am pinned against the wall,

the sky, like an unending straight line,

smears shades of colour from its jumbo Camel box

and soothes my mind.

 

 

Joy ride

 

I descend the darkness

with sleepy Camelias.

At every winding bend, ancient tracks

caress the pungent wind.

Far, in the neighbouring hills,

lights dim to make love.

Pleasure wets the blanket.

Inside the expensive car

faulty thermostat freezes existence.

Wealth surrenders to the warmth

of the ramshackle cottages.

 

Agony climbs up to the bosom -

chained desires wrestle in the Id.

Waiting for a boundless leap,

I navigate pleasure through the dense

forest of the mossy navel where

inherited stretches reside.

Permanent as craters in the moon,

they spray warm moisture

and lull me to care.

Dr Antara Mukherjee - An Editor of 3 books and a Member of Review Boards of International Journals, Dr Antara Mukherjee is a part of West Bengal Educational Service, Govt of West Bengal. She is presently teaching at the Dept. of English, Durgapur Govt College, WB. After several National and International publications and presentations in the last two decades, she is currently engaged in exploring Heritages in WB along with pursuing the creative aspects of her being. She loves to travel, observe, listen to the sounds of winds and rain to medicate herself.