Tejaswinee Roychowdhury (Voices Within 2023)

Tejaswinee Roychowdhury is a lawyer and a Pushcart-nominated writer-poet-artist from West Bengal, India. She edits The Hooghly Review and her work spanning across genres has been curated in fourteen countries. Tejaswinee’s poetry publications include Taco Bell Quarterly, Black Bough Poetry, Dreich, The Bayou Review, Ongoing, Paddler Press, The Chakkar, Close Encounters in War Journal, Amity: peace poems (edited by Sahana Ahmed) and more. Twitter: @TejaswineeRC.

 

 

Honey Stains

The hive across my living room window
is diverse in its formlessness.
A bee takes a wrong turn
under indigo skies,
leaves honey stains
on my chartreuse walls.

I say wrong turn because Ma says wrong turn,
but the element of wrongness is subjective
when God’s deeds are supposedly infallible.
Though ineffable. What purpose does a bee seek
when leaving honey stains on walls?
Camaraderie? Or dominion?

Tomorrow, the hive will be gone.
I will watch bees swirl into clouds
emulating Van Gogh.
Drying honey stains
will resemble my love stains
on aloof hearts.

 

Negotiating with the Moon

 

Half the apartment

is soaked in moonlight.

The mahogany of my bedpost—

an Oreo dipped in skimmed milk

—is indifferent to my woes.

 

My admittance into lush fields 

valleyed between whispering hills,

where dreams are cultivated 

on dandelion seeds is restricted,

gatekept by the moon’s vigilance.

 

I am unqualified.

I cannot surrender to stillness,

my conscious and subconscious 

are caged by faithlessness. 

I must reassert my rights.

---

Setu, November 2023 :: Voices Within 2023