World Poetry Day: Poems of some closet poets

Poetry is the song of the soul. That’s possibly why many people write poems but never share them with a larger audience. They keep their poetic words under wraps or share them with only their closest friends.

To mark World Poetry Day (March 21), we requested some of our writers and readers to share their poems. Their themes range from the ‘love of a mother’ to the ‘power of dreams', from death to life and much more. Here’s an ode to love, life and poetry through poems of some closet poets:

Mahabrahman

By Abhijit. C. Chandra

“He seems intoxicated,” Devjyoti murmurs,
His eyes moist as we sit near his father’s pyre.
I cannot help but agree with that assessment
Of septuagenarian Mahesh Chandra Banerjee,
Frail, shawl-draped, dhoti-clad and unshaven.

As the cool winter breeze appears to play
Just like a curious and innocent child
With the raging and leaping tongues of flame,
In that grim and ash-covered place of death,
Banerjee the priest sits unmoved, unconcerned.

A faint smile is on his cracked lips,
As his thinning hair stands like a myriad serpents,
From time to time the old man softly issues an order
About the rites to bring peace to the departed
Displaying a clinical and distressing familiarity.

“Nobody invites me for weddings now,
For they all know my area of expertise.”
Banerjee’s voice has a tinge of sadness
As he describes how people wave him away
A brahman treated as a shudra!

The man was not born for such tasks,
He retired from a major firm years back,
What compelled him to take up this work?
Perhaps a humane desire to lend a hand
To those crossing a spiritual border?

(Abhijit C. Chandra is a Bhopal-resident journalist & teacher)

----

Kite

By Pritha Lahiri

Unhindered I fly
In the sky
Without a care
Never a wear
Or tear

Liberated I soar
Scorn I pour
Upon all who
Try to score
By pulling me
To the floor

For once the string
That binds me
Brings
Itself out to sing
My Rhapsody
But I fling
It to the ground

For I have found
It is bound
To its stony mound
Of everyday Life

And here I thrive
Amidst cloud
My
Ultimate crown

(Pritha Lahiri is a West Bengal-resident senior journalist who retired as a national news agency's Kolkata Chief of Bureau.)

उम्मीद

-द्वारा स्वाति सिन्हा

कब सोचा था दीवारों की दरार भी,
रिस रिस के नज़र आएगी,
कितना भी छुपायेंगे गर्द मगर,
बिकी किताबों सी बिखर जाएंगी।

तुम उस ओर सोचोगे,
की मयखाना खुला रखा है,
और हम डूबे हुए पैमाने की,
बदहोशी में मेहफ़ूज़ रह जायेंगे।

दस्तक देता है कोई,
उस ओर की मीनारों से,
जन्नते ख्वाब में ही सही,
कहीं तो ए दोस्त…नेकी परस्त पहचान पाएंगे।

(Swati Sinha is a US-based teacher & mother. She loves to cook for her family & friends besides writing poems in Hindi & English)

मेरी दिल्ली

-द्वारा रश्मि प्रताप

इस शहर को मैंने बनते हुए देखा है
कितने गली कूचों को बदलते हुए देखा है।

हमारे साथ-साथ इमारतें भी बड़ी हो गयीं
पेड़ पौधे कट गए हरियाली भी कम हो गयी l

शांति से न जाने कितने साल बीत गए
दिल्ली कितनी बदल गयी हम भी संग बदल गए l

पर आज जो बदलाव देखा, उससे दिल दहल गया
मेरी दिल्ली दिलदारों की, इतना कुछ कब बदल गया l

आज दिल्ली में सडकों पर लोगों को लड़ते हुए देखा
घरों में आग लगाते तोड़-फोड़ करते देखा l

ये वो दिल्ली तो नहीं जहां मैं बड़ी हुई थी
ये वो दिल्ली तो नहीं जहाँ मेरी सोच पनपी थी l

नहीं चाहती मैं दिल्ली ये हालात फिर देखे
तबाही का माहौल शहर मेरा फिर झेले l

सोचती हूँ काश कोई लोगों को रोक पाये
आपस में फिर मिल के जीना सीखे, दिलों में न आग लगाएं l

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial and socio-economic reporting)

Also Read: Poems of closet poets: From romance to war, unpublished poets write about them all

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