Poetry: Snigdha Agrawal

Snigdha Agrawal

GADDI GAMES (GAME OF THRONES)

One, two, lace up my shoes

Three, four, bend a little more

Restless getting TV crews

Bubba gets down on his knees

Ties Mumma's laces tight

Complying as a respectful son should do

Give the devil its due!

Five, six, in a small village

Baba arrives to celebrate

Mataji's 100th birthday

Seven, and eight, bids his time

Stage props being arranged

Enters in the shutterbugs' presence

Respectful son pays obeisance

Nine, ten, two drama ends

Encore, encore, public yells!

Another place will grab attention

"Self-professed demi-Gods on earth presiding".

***

CONTEMPORARY RHYMES

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Who will be the first to tell

What inside those minds dwell?

Who will be the next to be felled?

Cut into thin threads

Inside the shredder 

Through oratorial skills 

Vote...vote...vote for me

with promises big

The lady is crowned

ousting the Bozo clown

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingles all the way

Alas! Lasted for eventful forty-four days

Witnessed a royal burial

Hailed ‘Long Live the King of England’

Drama staged on another continent

The King sits in his Chambers

Counting his newfound fortunes

Oops! He now has to contend with a government head 

From a race that once his ancestors ruled

Will that mean His Majesty will return the Kohinoor?

Asks the world

Double Diwali Dhamaka

celebrated, with the breaking news!

***

YEH ZINDAGI (This Life)

Yeh Zindagi...

I have no complaints about Thee

All these years

Thou

Compartmentalized me

Leaving no trimmings to

gather together

and

Stitch me a piece

I'd be comfortable in

So, I'm living it out as

Thou

deems fit

Yeh Zindagi...

Thy...

name evokes admixture

of times good and bad

Thou hath...

doled out only river of sorrows

failures galore

back-handed compliments

tongue-in-cheek commendations

Thine

is the way, I humbly accept

without complaints

Consoling the loser in me

***

UNFRIENDED

They befriended me

Friends forever three

  

  Kali

  Lakshmi

  Saraswati

I had erred

Demanded more from them

That was not in the treaty

Robbed from them

  Strength

  Wealth

  Knowledge

Now brandished a thief

Thief, I'm not

Overtaken by greed

took more than apportioned

How could that equal a sin?

  Kali said “you’ve overused your quota”

  Lakshmi defended “you’ve ignored the poor”

  Saraswati countered “you’ve misused my gift”

Here I stand at the end of my life 

Unfriended by those on whom I most relied

Surrounded by a feeling of emptiness

***

 

NOMENCLATURES 

Somewhere in the skies

The sprinkler of stardust is turned on

Showering blessings

On my unmoving body

Draped in my wedding saree

They stood frozen, quiet

This woman had broken all

age-old traditions

Wished to be dressed in bright red

 Claimed it as her right

Red streaked vermillion

A thick line in her grey parting

Bindi on forehead

Wrists adorning red bangles

Feet adorned with silver anklets

She saw their anguish

She heard their unspoken words

Judgmental staring

What right had this old woman

Shame society while leaving?

Hey! You(s) with Myopic sight

His love resides inside me

So what, that he's gone

I remain married to him

In thought, spirit, and being

Till the end, we don't part

That's the vow we had taken

My life has ended

Forever married

'Widowed' nomenclature

It's you, who branded me

*** 

Bio: Snigdha Agrawal (nee Banerjee) is a Bengali born, raised and educated in a cosmopolitan environment, with exposure to the eastern and western cultures, imbibing the best of both worlds.  With more than two decades of experience working in the corporate sector, her outlook on life is balanced, which reflects in her writings. A versatile writer, she writes all genres of poetry, prose, short stories, travelogues, and hotel/restaurant reviews on Tripadvisor, under the pen name ‘puchka’.  A published author of three books, the latest titled MINDS UNPLUGGED Lockdown Stories and Rhymes for The Six to Sixteen, is available worldwide on Amazon. in Amazon.com Flipkart, and other global platforms.  An intrepid traveller, her travel diaries can be accessed in word press blog: randomramblings52.  She lives in Bangalore (Karnataka), India. 

---

Setu, November 2022