Revisit: What's New, What's Old? (Pankajam Kottarath)

K Pankajam

The Fuel of Hope

When the year goes into the fold of past

It’s time to discard things driving you mad 

To make the new year, a real good start. 

Expect nothing less than total fulfilment

Complete contentment, health and happiness 

No compromise on any premise whatsoever.

Things might have let you down in the past

They shouldn’t hold you back from making fresh efforts

They are glib, ephemeral or fragile unless you trust otherwise

And will ebb away like returning waves before your grit 

Victory is for those who doesn’t accept failures

You don’t really fail until you accept failure.

All beginnings are opportunities to evade old mistakes

And start on things afresh without the scars of yesterdays

Without the shadowed perceptions from past experiences

As on a clean slate sans insane or unfounded worries.

The darker days are over, sunlight is about to invade

A new dawn waits with promises great

Let not old worries echo in your heart

Forget the past pains, embrace the present

It’s time to reinvent yourself and believe;

You deserve much more happiness and peace.

Let not your voice lose in the sea of fallacies 

Instead start on things that please the you in you

Dive deep into your soul’s green valleys 

To see the shimmering starry view of the rising sun

Electrify your affable winning spirits and kindle your courage

Latent under passive thoughts, hold nothing back.

 

Hopes are the fuel that keeps us going  

Let it burn with positivity and persistence 

Ignite the lamp of your wisdom, let it revel bright

And make your days brighter and better.

 

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Bio: Pankajam Kottarath is a bilingual poet and novelist and an author or more than 30 books. Her poems, book reviews, short stories and articles have been published in many national/international journals and anthologies. One of her poetry collections has been translated into French. Three books on literary criticism discuss her works in detail. A book of critical essays and research papers on her poem titled “Poetic Oeuvre of K Pankajam” has also been published. She is the recipient of many awards.

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Setu, December 2021