An Evening (In the Countryside)
The dusk has run away from dark orphanages.
Families of ‘saal’ cover the forest with abundance
just like the river’s buoyant currents
guide the Grand Boat ahead.
The last blossoms of warm sunlight
emerge from among those trees
and now circumambulate the farmlands.
Oh medicine-takers! Come here!
The winds are not fidgety here.
Greet them unhesitantly.
Gather around here. The tasteful smell
of curries coming from the maternal homestead
has turned this evening into a dominion of delectable flavours.
Tell sleep to resist.
On your feathery shirt hung on the clothesline,
something intangible occurs.
Watch how the moonlight sews its torn parts.
Those particles filled with voluminous light
will now dispatch a night’s worth of beauty for the days to come.
I’ve Given Peace a Chance
The vast interiors of my beloved cat’s eyes,
yellow and green, the soundwaves of her
love song, and the primary softness of her body
beget time, stilled to a superior attachment to the little hours
where she adjusts her gaze with an unaccustomed earth.
The chances of her surviving this world
are greater on an everyday basis.
The holdovers of rage and diffidence are like indistinct clouds
that pass in the sky before her wide eyes.
I had never known such stillness in my life.
I had never known the comfort and balance
of a creature who lets indivisible days and the lazy
minutes after two o’clock become like marmalade
spread out in an open jar, liable to be tasted and profoundly savoured.
I’ve given peace a chance without accusing myself
of being distanced from her.
She now guides me to sleep, placing her paws on my chest
and breathing with me. Because of her, an unaccustomed earth
has finally begun to share its mysteries of comfort, rest and
acceptance with me.
Prithvijeet Sinha
Prithvijeet Sinha, a proud resident of the cultural epicenter that is Lucknow, India. His prolific published credits encompass poetry, musings on the city, cinema, anthologies, journals with national and international repertoire as well as a blog. His life-force resides in writing, in the art of self-expression.