Three select poems from Cross-Stitched Words

Chaitali Sengupta

Chaitali Sengupta

1. Tree life

There grows within me

the limb of a tree,

spreading its roots,

winding deeper down,

where my yesteryears are buried,

fleeced in moss.

And, my scars come up,

on its aged, wrinkled barks.

Its restless wings, carry my youth,

a time bright green.

And the wind on its branches,

unfastens my late years…

an age passes- or is it a life?

I don’t know.

I only know, I gather 

the aroma of silence,

dripping off the ragged edges,

under the humming shadows

of my tree life.

There, in the spirit of the woods,

I lower my sorrows. 

***

2. Forever is born

Sometimes, the words slip

and slide off the mind,

scatter on the floor,

scratch on the paper,

gnaw at our soul

and shiver into meaning.

Then, a poem is born. 

Sometimes, the words tilt, 

swim in the inkpot,

scratch magic on paper,

combine with our winged dreams,

and flow through us, like rivers.

Then, forever is born. 

***

3. A Brief Life

Life is nothing but

a floating

a drifting

a slumbering

through the river of time.

diving in

like a pilgrim

collecting memories

like the gems;

resonating briefly

like Mozart’s symphony

through time and space...

and then finally

falling awake

in a piece of no man's land.

***

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Setu, December 2021