PANKAJAM KOTTARATH, INDIA

K Pankajam

Ms. Pankajam Kottarath is a bilingual poet and novelist and an author of 37 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. 

SILENCE OF THE SOUL

I may be poor, but I’m not deprived of thoughts 

I may not be vocal, but my heart is brimming with words 

Look into my eyes and read my mind, can you?

If you do, I will say you are my platonic friend.

Can you imagine the intensity of my dreams? 

They are deeply carved in my soul, crush them not.

 

I can hear the silence of the fading day,

The wails of the falling leaves

I see the craving of the receding waves

And the songs of the hissing wet winds in summer rains, 

but the silence inside me is not always silent.

It’s loud and rambling at times

which you can’t scale or measure.

It has its own ups and downs, 

unseen, unknown, unawares.

 

The lightning before thunder is bright

Similar to my joys or sorrows suppressed

I may not express things, they lay dormant

till an opportune time emerges in handy. 

Still silence is an ocean to be delved in,

for in its depths lay treasures too many. 

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Solitude of Soul 2023 :: Setu, March 2023