Chaitali Sengupta: Poetry (Voices Within 2021)

Chaitali Sengupta is a published writer, translator, journalist from the Netherlands. A regular contributor to the Dutch online newspaper Eindhoven News, she writes and translates for other Dutch media platforms too. Her poems, short stories and articles have appeared in many literary platforms in India too, like Muse India, Indian Periodical, Borderless Journal, Setu Bilingual, The Asian Age, The Statesman, Different Truths. Her translated work “Quiet Whispers of our Heart” (Orange Publishers, 2020) received good reviews at the International Book Fair, Kolkata, India. Her poems are part of acclaimed anthologies, published from both the USA and India.

Desires

Threads of desires

stitch the moments of life.

Flame-colored desires

drifting up through 

a thousand aching fissures

in our hearts...

wandering and wending, 

carving a jagged path through our being,

murmuring the tales of yen, glass- crystal;

riddling us, tearing us in two,

until we surrender

to it’s hissing voice of longings.

November in our soul

Wet bark

Ripe apples

Burning firewood

Mouldy mushrooms

Mournful thoughts

Warm quilt

Cozy covers

Falling leaves

Crisp air

Chorus of colors...

a landscape coming alive in its dying.

An end to one season,

a beginning for another;

tints of November

lingering in the frosty network

of our souls,

like memories

of falling leaves.

You never walk alone

You never walk alone;

the pebbles of your lot trudge along, 

some scars meet up at the next bend,

summoning the stubborn hills of responsibilities;

and the burden of sorrows, 

betrayed by destination, follow on foot.

Sometimes, on the old mission trail,

some good thoughts

join in, 

carrying the last smiles of the year, 

like a fragrance through the air.

They come, then leave

as suddenly as they come.

Yet, I’m not left alone;

for, I walk 

to the song in my heart,

to the caress of the grass, 

under the detached blue of the sky

with muffled footsteps…

 

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Life, Cognition and Creativity 2021 :: Setu, January 2021