Snapshots
by Gopal Lahiri / April 14th, 2024
1.
Before the mirror,
I inhale, pass my warmth to the dark night,
others escape like smokes from a fire,
the key-hole that sees only once
and closes.
I smile and my joy turns into wrinkles.
2.
Why do you keep telling
because
you know,
no matter how soft or hard your voices are
they are hollow.
3.
Come beyond the split,
sink in with the others
to feed the loyalist.
4.
They may not be mine,
these dirty hands like flies
fleeing from me.
5.
Our memories-
day and night
you should keep them
alive in a glass jar.
6.
My iris ties the black knots
of your eyes,
you believe
there are reasons.
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, April 14th, 2024 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.
