Special Edition: Radha Chakravarty

Radha Chakravarty
Arrested Gaze

river in motion,
wind-stirred trees
road on edge
tense pre-storm sky 
empty bench
awaiting perhaps
some secret tryst—

arrested moment
frozen in time
captured on camera
in black and white
for eyes that see
no shades of grey
***


Beyond the Frame

The still image stirs
the heart, compels
the gaze, moves
the viewer to wonder
where, when, what, why, and how?

But the pictured sky stays silent,
the trees toss their heads
the river pays no heed
the bench turns its back
the road ignores
our questions.

The scene draws us in
but keeps its secrets, refusing
to divulge the untold story
beyond the frame.
***


Not in the Picture

On that bench
by that road’s edge
beneath that tilted tree
beside that flowing stream
beneath that serene sky
beyond that tree-line on the opposite shore,
there I am!

Look again, closely, and you will know
that space is not empty.
Feel the presences: trees, river, sky, 
That bench too has stories to tell.
I make them up.

The fingers of my gaze
grasp and possess the scene
the breath of my desire stirs the trees,
my voice makes the river sing.

Because I am there,
the picture is real
but you cannot see me,
because I am, of course,
not in the picture
***

Bio: Radha Chakravarty is a widely published writer, critic and translator. Subliminal: Poems is
her recent collection of poetry. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and
anthologies. She contributed to Pandemic: A Worldwide Community Poem (Muse Pie Press,
USA), nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2020.  She has published over 20 books, including
translations of major Bengali writers, anthologies of South Asian writing, and critical studies
of Tagore, Mahasweta Devi and contemporary women writers. She was Professor of
Comparative Literature & Translation Studies at Ambedkar University Delhi.

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