Poetry: Biswajit Mishra

Biswajit Mishra

Ekalavya’s debt

When the window gave way a little 

after all this time,

even a picture of the sun 

was warming enough 

to encourage me to 

venture out and see—

at least to start turning the head

for the sight to focus 

and to breathe it in

not learning, just sitting by

afar.

Now the bee’s hum will

keep humming as the 

Sun’s light will keep warming 

because whatever is 

given is given 

for ever

and for all,

like the rain.

Note: An homage to Louise Gluck on her passing on October 13,2023. Ekalavya is a character in Indian epic “Mahabharat” who learned stealthily from a distance from Guru Drona who was teaching the princes and this learning of Ekalavya was without the knowledge of the Guru and when he was caught, Ekalavya paid the price of learning by cutting off his right thumb which stopped him from being an archer but he paid off the debt.  

***

Shiva     

Someone posted on Facebook, this year Shivaratri 

coincided with the 

international women’s day

and there was a modernized 

painting of the ardha-naari-shwara 

form of Shiva an androgynous form combining the whole man – 

both male and female but is that all, 

isn’t there more- the plants , the 

animals, birds, insects, stones, 

rivers and their genders, all;

what image can complete it, what image of mine is real?

Yesterday I looked at a lone magpie and I thought I was 

one too, at least aspiring to; 

what do I see of me in my mind, 

I am not sure I know, that’s why the 

mirror surprises me; I might be stuck with the image my 

mother had of me, maybe a bit aged 

to what my wife had when we 

were newly married and then 

what my daughter’s eyes held when I drove her to school.

Shiva, a mythological resident of the Himalayas, 

the bearer of 

the river, the moon, 

the snake, the poison, 

the maestro, the dancer…

the destroyer in the trinity

but each creation has that potential embedded

the birth with death so is 

the world, so am I; what 

else am I doing other 

than destruction

every moment 

when I breathe! What picture will encompass all?

When

I saw the magpie

it seemed it was just as it was

nothing more, nothing less;

what can be done to infinity

so is Shiva.

Note: Shivaratri  is the festival of Shiva. In 2024 it was on the March 8th. Ardhanaarishwara ( ardha  naaree  eeshwara) is a conjunct word in Sanskrit meaning half male and half female deity. This is one of the forms Shiva is seen in.

***

Different interpretations with the same meaning 

My friend reads it, hears

almost all my poems 

almost fresh

and 

our actions

and reactions

have become

almost cliches.

When I read to him about my childhood 

with mud walls and bare feet

he sees his childhood home and mitten-less hands.

When I talk about my father

he sees his father

and this goes on and on

sometimes leading to my surprise 

how can that be

and to his too,

in the first place 

how can that be:

I am from a small eastern town in India,

he has always been here in western Canada;

how a story of my wife’s sister

is a story of his wife’s sister!

Yes, now you see.

But I deciphered the clue 

this morning while I was

scooping out avocado 

for guacamole 

for sandwich:

my past has different flavours and 

different spices hanging around

like the halo on the idols—

and he my friend,

he goes straight 

for the gods within.

***

The world is one family

We believe in it strongly

and we brought it out

from the prayer room 

to our front yard 

and embedded it in the

strong pillars of the gate

so that it’s visible, we

thought we had it hiding

for long and what good was that.

The world is one family

and we know everything 

works in consonance (must)

hence, sun will shine on it

(not fade)

rain will wash the dirt off it

(not wash the paint away).

The world is one family

and we know everyone

works in consonance(must)

and everyone is welcome

everyone should (must) know that

everyone should(must)appreciate that

and then they are part of the family

to sit in our garden

and some may get into the porch—

we know the world has been existing for long

but there’s evolution

for everything and everyone

to become a part of the family.

The world is one family

and we brought that out

from our heart for the world

to see.

***

REM

Who knows what goes on

during sleep 

It’s like describing god

as is the dream

no amount of articulation 

gets it out fully

but world goes on

sometimes worlds go on

in one night or day;

only the aftertaste—

again hard to tell

hangs on through 

the upheavals.

There are books that say

it eventually levels out

as though a wistful thought 

or could it be dependent upon

how high the shot is taken from.

***

Bio: Biswajit Mishra writes poems predominantly in English and sporadically in his native language Odia writing generally about nature, animals, plants, spiritual concepts, families, and travel experiences. Born in India and having lived in Kenya, Biswajit and his wife Bharati currently live in Calgary, Canada.

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Setu, May 2024