With profound sadness, I want to announce that on August 2nd, I lost my mother, Prem Lata Singh. She passed away in Mumbai. My mother left young. She was in her early 70s. Her sudden loss has left me bewildered, reminding me of the nature of impermanence in the harshest way possible. The last days of her life were extremely difficult. They have taught me several lessons and have given me a much deeper understanding of the world we live in that needs to be more thoughtful and compassionate.
My mother’s absence is going to be present before me for the rest of my life and help me set priorities in years to come. We all are in this world for a limited time and must make the best use of the gift of life we have received from our parents and ancestors.
During the period of bereavement and prayers (thirteen days according to the customs of Sanatan Dharma), I have been away from my duties as the Editor-in Chief of Life and Legends, and we have missed publishing our weekly feature “Poem-a Week” in the last week of July and the first week of August. Life and Legends is run with the help of volunteers, and I regret the lapse in my commitments. To compensate for this, may I share some poems in my mother’s memories with you? I hope some of us can relate to these words and find meanings in them.
The Bridge
With the yarns of my invisible breaths
I weave a suspension bridge
in the lap of the cosmos
and cross over it.
I have built numerous bridges
like the one I travel on
since the time unknown
and sever it when I’m gone.
Searching forever, my home,
I arrive with my in-breath,
with my out-breath I leave
with a promise to return.
The Wisdom of My Ancestors
“Beyond the blue horizon, where our ancestors
Appear bearing gifts…” – Joy Harjo (Beyond Sunrise)
Our ancestors appear beyond the horizon offering wisdom,
and a reminder that the only thing
permanent in the world is impermanence.
All shapes and forms dismantle. All shades and colors faint.
Every sound fizzles, and every touch is meant to be void at the end.
I do not know where I have come from, where I would go,
the day I’m void of touch, color, sound, and form, which identify me.
The only thing I know, I come and go.
Someday, I’ll rise beyond the horizon
to tell this story to my children, continuing my journey.
(Previously appeared on AWP Interactive Map)
Roots
My mother does not want to live there
where she lived all her years.
She wants to go elsewhere,
where there is no suffering and fear of death.
But I had returned only to inherit her fears,
and the fear of having everything she never had,
and knowing — there is no death for life not been lived.
Now I stand alone, where my mother stood once
like an evergreen tree, under the blistering sun,
hoping that someday my mother shall return
with the rain.
Kalpna Singh-Chitnis is an Indian-American poet, writer, actor, and filmmaker based in Greater Los Angeles. She is the author of four poetry books, the Editor-in-Chief of Life and Legends and Translation Editor of IHRAF Publishes in New York. Her works have appeared in notable journals like World Literature Today, California Quarterly, Indian Literature, Silk Routes Project (The University of Iowa), Life in Quarantine (Stanford University), and others. Her full-length poetry collection Bare Soul was awarded the 2017 “Naji Naaman Literary Prize for Creativity.” Her awards and honors include the “Bihar Rajbhasha Award,” given by the government of Bihar, India, “Bihar Shri,” and the “Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award.” Kalpna’s poetry has received praise from eminent writers, such as Nobel Prize in Literature nominee Dr. Wazir Agha, Vaptsarov Award, and Ordre des Arts et des Lettres recipient Amrita Pritam, and poet and Academy Award-winning lyricist, and filmmaker Gulzar. She has read at Sahitya Akademi, India’s highest academy of letters, Poets & Writers, AWP Conferences, and other venues internationally. Her works have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, German, Albanian, Chez, Arabic, Nepali, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, and published in anthologies worldwide. A former lecturer of Political Science, Kalpna Singh-Chitnis holds a degree in Film Directing from the New York Film Academy and works as an independent filmmaker in Hollywood. She is also a member of the United Nations Association of the USA and the founder and director of the “Silent River Film and Literary Society” and “Silent River Film Festival” in the USA. Website: www.kalpnasinghchitnis.com
