Utpal Chakraborty: Poetry (Voices Within 2021)

Utpal Chakraborty is a teacher of English literature, translator, writer, critic and a bilingual poet. He is a regular contributor to leading Bengali and English magazines. Chakraborty's Uranta Dolphin, an acclaimed collection of fifty five Bengali poems was published by Signet Press in 2018. He has translated Bitan Chakraborty's critically acclaimed collection of Bengali short stories, under the title The Mark (Shambhabi Imprint, 2020). His book of English poetry kirigami recently published by Hawakal has had rave reviews by reputed poets and critics. He is the recipient of Panorama Global Literary Award 2020.

 

 

Resurrection


Scripts, however, designed drip a

familiar clue for forensic test.

Drongos and black roses, scared, fly away.

Even the brown son of God is painted in golden hue.

The boy of Gambia like Dalits of everywhere

get framed as Tobys. What will happen if

the real statue of liberty from the Tamarisk glade

returns through the graves and the seas?

What if the man of colour after suppressing

Kaliya is ensconced on your whitened throne?

 What if tremor hits your bragging right at 8.46 Richter scale?

Your legs are on the hay- live all around.

Mangers don't resurrect.

 

When Reality Hits

 

Each December with a sniff of festivity within,

I land on a mountaintop.

Mustard fields doodle on sun seeped hues.

Salty figurines wade through the meandering

threads dwindling away.

Hand made bamboo textures

snare in the messed water.

No blizzards tantalize here.

The sun does not debilitate.

All that I guess multiplies pigments.

Skilled in gymnastics I eschew

the viper pits, charming

my way to victory. The angelic

draperies show up.

Here there are no other strings

attached to the rungs of the ladders.

No overtones of the snakes

except that they gulp you

down the tube to those helicopter days.



As the dice now rolls down the tunnel

I see a shocked world

standing still over an array of live coffins.

I am to begin from the tail now. Steep sloppy ladder

has nosedived into the dusty lows of life.

A practical game needs all the nuances of the ladder well-defined.

 

 

Blighted strings

To the right of Jesus,

Thomas stands in profile.

His finger pointing up in

the air sparks off a

speculation in a Bible story.

Thomas doubts and confirms

the eyes, resurrected.

Magdalenes are always

veiled for anointing the feet.

Film buffs still seek after

the gender in trust and belief.

 

Celebration

Baubles, tinsels and colored

strings favour the angels.

Summer Solstice reflects

on the mangers.

Hollies, firs and Tamarisks

knit the missing angles.

 


No comments :

Post a Comment

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╣ै।