Requiem
I nurse cold evening in my soft palm
each star drops a haiku that hangs on the treetop,
the moon slices into a half,
The mirror the old memories the long darkness
fall inside and the gas light
shines at the corner of the street,
Shooting stars cross the courtyard,
the last time whispers forget to steal
the shy alphabets,
Night stands like blue white candles
ignoring the rusted oil lamps,
dimness is a myth now,
A dream or may be a long poem, a requiem,
after the moonrise,
I go to the sleep in the morning, weary, exhausted.
_____
Fairy Lights
Every time we speak of darkness
the metaphors are faced with the black and white lines
the syllables pass through the grills with ease.
The street identifies the follicle of shadows and then
becomes the domain of trivial,
the tiny rafts of refuge knock the door.
Rain-puddles chisel the grey clouds
the world dissects morning whispers
with the weight of gravity and gravitas.
The proverbial truth hangs in a frame
silent dawns rise above the bends of rivers,
the soft reel runs out in a haste.
Images draw the sky-blue kingfisher
letting a little light in the dark chamber,
count minutes to converse in sunbeams.
_____
War Monuments
The old porches follow whispers, the memory
draws the broken war monuments,
the dead still lives within us.
High cotton clouds stay unpicked,
every entry into the unfamiliar place feels the strangeness,
pain, illness and demise are inseparable.
The laughter that drowns the walls comes alive,
lays the cards, the ace of spades is ending in a fusion,
nights are knocks and curves, silence protected.
Relapses are usual, missing dots now visible,
words stumble, letters steeplechase in a hurry,
and if I speak of lost paradise, it’s here, inside.
_____
BIO
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator. He is the author of 22 published books. His poems, translations and book reviews have been published across various journals. Recent credits: Ink Sweat & Tears, Catjun Mutt Press, Kitab, Verse Virtual, Borderless Journal, Different Truth, Piker Press, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Daily Sun, Spillwords, International times, New York Parrot, Tourvallie Review, Harbinger Asylum, Indian Periodicals, Setu, Muse India, Imspired, Lothlorien poetry and elsewhere. His poems are translated in 14 languages.
