Three Poems
Painting source: bluethumb.com.au
By Jagari Mukherjee
On the Terrace
On the terrace
under a full moon
I remember
people I loved –
my grandma and
my aunt…both now dead –
standing on the terrace
with me
and picking me up
on their laps,
pointing out to me
the rabbit in the moon
and the blanket of stars
and how the sun takes a dip
into the far recesses of the sky
to create restful evenings.
Soon…
sounds of conch shells
from our home and all
the houses around.
Then we would go inside
the house and on
to the old kitchen
where a clay oven
would be lit by my aunt
and glow with coals.
And I would watch her
as she cooked.
Every night, I thought
it was my privilege
to ask my grandma
to recount tales of
her childhood in
pre-war Burma
when she wore a skirt
and played tennis every evening.
Today, I stand on the terrace
and summon the lights and shadows
of their presence.
***
For You
I fell for you as if
your love was a diary
found in a thrift store –
the thin pages translucent
stained with coffee
spilled by your wife –
the stitches coming loose
the spine torn out…
I can tell
the cover is still
a work of art –
brown taut hardbound with
small pressed flowers…
taking the diary home
I find fresh coffee stains
appearing every day…
while I strive to paint
roses on
the vintage paper with
watercolors diluted…
***
Interior
My ex-husband abandoned me
for a lady who designed interiors.
I inherited his shoe-rack, paper clips,
a bookcase, a couple of t-shirts
and a few pretty notebooks.
I took a notebook to French class
and used another for pasting postcards.
Searching for a suitable tome
to write my heartbreak –
I discovered a mysterious journal, where
my name was on a page
with flowers drawn around
and lines describing me as
“a fairy”, ” a princess”, and “the woman of my dreams”…
I still wonder if the words are cryptic.
I cannot remember how fairytales end.
Perhaps he had been only fair
to leave behind notebooks for a writer —
throwing in, for good measure,
a strange journal with an interior.
Bio:
Jagari Mukherjee is a writer from Kolkata, India. She has an MA in English Literature from the University of Pune, and was awarded a gold medal and several prizes by the University for excelling in her discipline. Her writings, both poetry and prose, have appeared in several newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and blogs. Her first book, a collection of poems entitled Blue Rose, was published in May 2017 by Bhashalipi. She has won several prizes in literary contests.
***
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***
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5 Responses to “Three Poems”
So spontaneous the poems are ! Could feel every word !
Thank you so much, ma’am! 🙂
These poems are so beautiful! They drew me in — inside them and inside my heart. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂
You are most welcome. Look forward to reading more. 🙂