Poetry: Aneek Chatterjee

Aneek Chatterjee

Mother

Mother you love me. 

You’ve structured my

daily routine with much care. 

Seven to nine

in the morning: language;

nine to 11: maths;

11 to 1: biology

Lunch, rest etc

thereafter.  

From the afternoon to

late evening: tuition from

reputed teachers

Mother, do you know

a football ground

laughs in my language book; 

grasshoppers jump from

biology lessons;

& an ominous planet threatens

me from my physics lexicon ?

#

Sometimes I want to be

your father

& wish to take you back

to days of yore  

when you played hide &

seek, kho – kho;

when you dreamed to be a

leg spinner; 

& tell you 

stop spinning around

your son 

______________________________

Elders!

Look at the lovely sky

Where I wish to fly

The aroma of flower

Signals nature’s power 

The naughty river flows

Through jungle, meadows 

I’ve visited in my dream. 

But I like to scream

When a dog crashes under the car

A bird is caged by the neighbor; 

& there is a fence around my mind

Oh elders, be patient, be kind

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Bio: Aneek Chatterjee is a poet and academic from Kolkata, India. He has been published in reputed literary magazines and poetry anthologies across the globe. His recent credits are:  Chiron Review, Better Than Starbucks, Poetry Potion, Shot Glass Journal, The Stray Branch, Dissident Voice, Café Dissensus, Literary Yard, Ann Arbor Review, Chicago Record, Setu, Ethos Literary Journal, GloMag, New Asian Writing, Montreal Writes, Scarlet Leaf Review, Pangolin Review, Mark Literary Review, Merak Magazine, Taj Mahal Review etc. He authored 13 books including two poetry collections titled “Seaside Myopia” & "Unborn Poems and Yellow Prison" (Cyberwit.net), and a novel named “The Funeral Procession”.  Chatterjee has a Ph.D. in International Relations; and has been teaching in leading Indian and foreign universities. His poetry has been archived at Yale University.

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Children's Literature 2020 :: Setu, July 2020