Poetry: Probal Basak

Probal Basak
WALL

Hate goes on
building wall,
fuelling battle of
Yahweh and Ba’al.

Starved bellies
caught in trawl.
hundred stateless
queued to scrawl.

splits a mother
and her child,
my, my country
names me wylde.

Pecksniffs around
on a diktat-spree,
seeks piece of paper
to set me free.


Let the SAGE
whisper to despotic laity.
Let HIM
Unlock the cage.
Awake
The deluded deity.
Lighten up
The dark chasm.

AYANGBANDHU RAYANETI
GANANA LAGHUCHETASM
UDARCHINTNANG TU
BASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM.
***


Au Revoir

(In first week of June 2018, leading dailies published a painting recovered from 5-year old Jose, separated from his father who had been arrested at El Paso border, courtesy US administration’s border enforcement policy. This piece is inspired by Jose’s story)

Hello, Jose. Do you hear me?
You are not alone.
Keeping pain at bay,
fight. We’ll be back, don’t moan.
World will raise voice in our plea,
may be, one day.

Jose, I saw your drawing.
The one, published in paper.
Memory came back clawing;
Mom’s long hair, my father
standing beneath the sunny sky
and my tiny sister with her
hair-band with butterfly.
Hey, Jose, Is it you,
smiling and holding my hand?
Did you ever come to my land?

Pain, may be our pain have
travelled thousands of miles
to Ichamati bank, crossing the knoll.
resisting rulers’ wiles,
united El Paso and Petropole.

May be, the solitary fates
stringing a garland of
our memoir.
Good byes, forced the state,
but, we said to our loved ones
au revoir.
***


After The Wall

Inside the wall:
it’s a rising wall.
Country
going ball to the wall,
bouncing off the wall,
firm on raising a barbed wall.

Outside the wall:
it’s a tearing wall.
Countrymen
beating head against the wall,
pushing hope back to the wall
facile, left to be fly on the wall.

It’s a wall to wall off
stateless from state
brick by brick,
hate by hate.

----------------
Probal Basak, 31,  an allumni of IIMC, New Delhi, India started his career as a journalist, who worked with Press Trust of India, Business Standard reporting mostly on socio-political issues.

Currently working with Department of Information & Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal in India, he writes poems both in English & Bengali (mothertongue).

5 comments :

  1. These poems talks of the time we live, in the best possibe way.Kudos to the writer

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fabulous, Probal. I look forward to reading more such insightful words from you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As the bio says writer was a journalist..these poems are journalism in verse...refreshing..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Like the last one most.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Somebody should send the poems to T***P.

    ReplyDelete

We welcome your comments related to the article and the topic being discussed. We expect the comments to be courteous, and respectful of the author and other commenters. Setu reserves the right to moderate, remove or reject comments that contain foul language, insult, hatred, personal information or indicate bad intention. The views expressed in comments reflect those of the commenter, not the official views of the Setu editorial board. рдк्рд░рдХाрд╢िрдд рд░рдЪрдиा рд╕े рд╕рдо्рдмंрдзिрдд рд╢ाрд▓ीрди рд╕рдо्рд╡ाрдж рдХा рд╕्рд╡ाрдЧрдд рд╣ै।