Chillness
by Gopal Lahiri / December 10th, 2023
There is a chillness to it all around,
a body standing near a wall, a bird pans down
from a blue sky, then tilts, circles, soars through
a space and to the floor, resting on a sill.
Young men grasping for grate as if caged,
there are lies told for art, lies told for power,
the painted and collaged figures are rearranged,
entire story to emerge, proud regal, noble
The balance cycles connectivity
a lie can show what is true,
photos travel unwieldy path
a few images speak of strife,
The canvas that says stay, says sit, says sleep,
the essence is the same- a moment
of insouciance amid turmoil.
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 29 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than seventy journals and anthologies globally. His poems are translated in 16 languages. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021. He has received Setu Excellence Award, Pittsburgh, US, in poetry. He is the first recipient of. Jayanta Mahapatra National Award for Literature, 2024.
Read other articles by Gopal.
This article was posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2023 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.
