A Space called Poetry: Shyamolima Saikia

Shyamolima Saikia

How does it matter

if she doesn’t possess

an abode of concrete

to call her own?

The long-harboured wish

remained a dream,

As time enmeshed her in its whirl

and she was left wondering if her kind

own a dwelling at all,

A freehold that is forever deferred

As she flies off her nest

And adapts to new environs,

But finally,

She found a space of her own,

A place she wants to return oft,

Wherein she can give vent

to all the random thoughts

crowding her mind,

create, decorate and sum up

all that are of utmost appeal to her;

Here again she can take shelter,

Away from all the cares and anxieties of life,

An escape from the humdrum,

hustle and run,

Unfettered by pangs of success and failure,

Or of rejection and lure,

Free from all cares and vile sentiments,

Here is all warmth and radiance

Here is all freedom and joy

The choicest décor,

Wiping out life’s monochrome

And splashing a riot of colours,

Chiselling her way through words

Herein, 

she thus builds her home…

***

Bio: Shyamolima Saikia is working as an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of English, Gargaon College, Sivasagar, Assam, India. Besides editing a number of books, she has also published a book of poems titled Palimpsest. Her poems have been published in Borderless Journal, Muse India, Indian Periodical, Virtuoso, Teesta Review, Soul Connection, Yugen Quest Review and anthologies like Antargata, the Kali Project, Paradise On Earth: An International Anthology, Earth, Fire, Water & Wind A Poetry Anthology etc. Moreover, her short stories have been published in TMYS Review, SKIN: Flash Fiction First, Volume 2 among others. She was the recipient of the Best Poetry Award, 2020 in the Writers’ Festival organized by Cape Comorin Trust. She was also the Delegate of Panorama International Literature Festival held in January 2022. She is the editorial member of Ruminations, a Peer Reviewed Bi-Annual International Journal. Her forthcoming publications include a jointly edited book titled Issues and Trends of Northeast Indian Literature.

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Setu, April 2022