Voices Within: Nishi Pulugurtha

Nishi Pulugurtha is an academic and writer based in Kolkata. Her publications include a monograph on Derozio (2010), a collection of essays on travel, Out in the Open (2019), an edited volume of essays on travel, Across and Beyond (2020) and a volume of poems, The Real and the Unreal and Other Poems (2020). Her recent book is a collection of short stories, The Window Sill (2021) and a second volume of poems is forthcoming from Writers Workshop, Kolkata.

Noises from the Dark

a whirring that becomes a jarring 

as the varied noises break the silence of the dark

the nose of quietness

a stillness that lingers

to be broken by the sounds

that seem to groan 

machine sounds 

a halt –

a pause –

and then they break through again

a chain, a rhythm

hmm grrn grrr hmm

not like this 

they are different

as they go on

a whirring, perhaps.

And then stillness 

that soothes

a quietness that comforts

to last for a while

till the sounds begin to trouble

the struggles continue. 

***

The red blooms that seem to smile

a branch cut off

from the tree that has now been chopped off

to clear some space

to clean up things

the broken stem still there

rooted – in hope I want to think

that branch, now grown

shades of green

moistened 

with a few small buds

awaiting as they turn big

two flowers

one above and a little to the right

holding on against the concrete

wall behind

the broken plastic bucket

edges jarred

faded colours

and the three cats atop that wall

in the winter sun.

***

Humdrum

the light slowly comes in, 

a little at a time

and what was dark and unseen, 

slowly become clear

the mist still lingers on

for a little while longer

the moaning of the black dog

as the breeze disturbs its quiet sleep

breaks the silence for a while

and then a silence that calms

 as redness shrouds the white peaks

a gentle flutter of the plastic on the hut in the distance

and some smoke that moves upwards

to get lost

Humdrum . . .

***

 

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Setu, February 2022