A Poem

 

In the quiet lake of my heart

I heard a poem flap its wings.

It nested on the shallow edges

Stirring its dark tranquil waters;

 

It would not stay, it flew away.

So I wrote your name on a sheet

And cast it like a paper boat

On the deserted waters:

 

There it still floats, like a swan,

Elegant and undisturbed,

Far more perfect and complete

Than any poem I ever wrote.

 

Diptesh Ghosh

 

 

 

 

Compensations

 

The wind sways the dark woods

And I, who have dug my roots

Deep into the cold earth,

Feel the air shake my leaves

Whispering sweet nothings;

 

A bird sings in the forest shadows.

This was once your song

Long ago in a green summer;

Now around me daisies wither

And softly falls the autumn rain.

 

My yellow leaves hang trembling,

Frost-crisped, ready to fall.

The wind, with tender hands,

Comes and pries open all I have.

But he is no sly beggar:

 

For each leaf that falls tonight

He sends me brand new words

Till suddenly the prosaic heart

Asks unanswerable questions

Speaking only in poetry.

 

Diptesh Ghosh