Ms. Pankajam K, India (Winging through Gloom: Poetry of Hope and Recovery)

K Pankajam

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.  

 

FRESH FRAGRANCE  

A bird in the woods speaks to me in my dreams

It hops from trees to trees chirping and chortling

Oh Men, your invisible chains are untied now.

Come to the open and enjoy the fresh fragrance of life.

Can’t you see the buds of hopes and recovery waiting to blossom

the roots of pains and hurts becoming dry and uprooted 

the gloom becoming gloomy and healing waiting to heal

or the brighter and better days in store for us to revel life in glee?

Let the dozing senses in each cell wake up and fight

bring love, light and peace to the hearts that bleed

the drowsy souls get out of slumber to write songs of hopes  

and the entire universe bask in the warmth of the new sunshine. 

As long as hope reigns, recovery is at our beck and call  

We shall recuperate, cleansed and purified; future is promising.

No masks on faces, let the smiles return to our faces 

Step out without fear, hugs and handshakes to return.

Push aside the hoarding memories stuck to the cellars

Welcome tomorrow’s dawning with dreams of hues heavenly

Keep your heart out of the melancholic clouds that crowd

And let’s together reinvent the fresh fragrance of life. 

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Setu, March 2022