Poetry: Mitali Chakravarty

* Author of the Month *

Mitali Chakravarty

Mitali Chakravarty (India/Singapore) is a writer and an editor. Her by-lines appeared in The Statesman, The Times of India, The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer in the 1980s upto 1992; more recently, on Kitaab.org, Countercurrents.org, Modern Literature, The Daily Star (Bangladesh) and Harbinger Asylum Quarterly (USA). She has been part of numerous anthologies. Mitali translates Bengali writer Nabendu Ghosh to English and also translates from Hindi. She has authored In the Land of Dragons, a humorous book of essays on living in China. She is the founding editor of borderlessjournal.com.

1. Cityscape 

A sea inlet named a river, 

a little green gem settled by men in sarongs.

overhanging trees, green with sampan breeze

That was all before —

before the advent of Corona,

before the colonials left

with a legacy

Now, City Hall throbs with empty walls.

The sampans, replaced by bumboats

with colorful flags, no longer sail

tourists down the Singapura

to see the Merlion

spout water from its mythical mouth 

— Half lion, half mer—

dream of an emperor

painted white with a twenty first century brush

that scoffs at rain

The land reclaimed

by buildings made to imitate durians, 

some stand tall with ships aloft the sky

And then under the Coleman Bridge

flowed the river, looking

at the museum, the theatre 

named after a queen that only knew victory;

at the silhouettes of skyscrapers, the banks

which scream emptiness 

scared by a virus 

that halts life.

But what is this a little sliver of light smiling

with a tinkle on the waters 

that gently wove stories into the land? 

What is this sliver?

It is the spirit of the land— Hope.

Hope built by years of endurance and hard work—

of a young nation that now mellows with time,

gives shelter to yours and mine. 

***

2. Spring 

Gazelles gaze on corona wrought streets

Fearless, emboldened 

Peacocks dance freed

by the absence of mankind

Birds soar across uninterrupted skies 

in patterns unseen by human eyes.

Skies turn a brilliant blue.

Nature blushes like a bride anew.

Each day nature a step further takes

as humans are forced to recede indoors, 

Caged —

frightened by the outer rim of a growing sun

that reaches out to cremate

human remains.

When will Nature give a respite?

When will the Outer Rim subside?

The spirit of Lalon sings a new song—

Dance, dance Jord, Yakshas and Nymphs

in harmony with the Sylphs,

all with love the Earth fill —

Love that will wash away all hate.

Anoint, anoint again with

Tolerance, Harmony, Joy.

***

3. Sunshine in Rain

Every day is a surprise.

Each dawn is a sunrise.

Sunshine in rain.

Leaves gleaming

With drops of 

bejeweled water, 

wet with 

redolent raindrops

Waiting to be kissed 

by a golden oriole.

Rain in sunshine.

Sharp crystal sticks 

Of serrated glass

fall not shattering

But pattering, 

moistening the Earth

Awakening desire —

Fertile, fecund.

Rain in corona

Whales in Mumbai

Dancing dolphins

Rain in corona

nature nurtures 

till man unlearns the

savage song of civilization

and learns to live with 

Each day as a surprise,

Each dawn as a sunrise.

Love life to give.

***

Setu, April 2020