Anjana Chakrabarty
for shaitaan
Pebble
Dipping at this river
In dress untainted
Sankha-sindoor adorned
At your tread thakur this pebble I fix to a twig
No, not seeking children
Nor husband’s health
An unalloyed asati I am
Another’s husband
Who I have desired all my life
Fasten him to this pebble
And drop him—thhok! Right in front of my feet thakur
Just for once.
******************
He
My cross
My nails
My crown of thorns
My tortuous death
I have lugged them all unto him
Smiles, vanity, this make-up
Beneath jollity waking up
With such ease can he spill blood
Everyday
***********
Tigress
Sniffing, sniffing, the pale telephone
A stray knock, leaping to the door
Pointless nail scratches so
Phone calls one or two, an sms may be
(work related)
Or perhaps a shadow lengthening there—afar
Ah, then wagging tongue –swishing, twitching
Raised tail, ah-tu-tu fondness
Vaulting upto the moon
To be doggish more than a dog can be
Is how the days go by…
And people think—tigress !
**********
Global Warming
How close does the sun come to the earth?
Days of rain have evaporated, like a miser’s perfume
In every direction a scalding sun now, its rays blistering
Phanimanasha
Brambles
Weariness
Two people, unable anymore to lie together
Poems, too, are combustible
Sets ablaze
The destined twosome
****************
After the Rain
Finally, it all eked out today
Chunks and chunks of pain
Golden filigreed sun
One or two sparrows come out to play
Wiping wet eyes they look up at the sky
On such cloud-clear days
I even wish I could love your wife.
***********
Hazarduari
A house met in a dream
Rows of closed doors, rooms
And you sleeping in one
Your light body awake in lean darkness
From such a distance its spark
And heat
Raging, flaring colour
Scorching down a whole lifetime
Just that I don’t know
How many more demons
Succubus
Man-eating boa
Three-headed dogs have I to cross
Before that door comes unhinged
*************
Shame
In the dream there were no clothes
Since you have not looked at me for days
Since you have not shrouded this hungry body with yours
Since you have not bedecked my naked body with a caress
In this winter
With no food, clothing
In public, among so many people
I was dying, splintered by shame
**************
Otherworldly
Following every ritual—pindo-daan, mukhagni
Communes, fraternity, relations
Beyond all trials and chhi chhi
Quitting the vestures of our bodies
Our souls have emerged
The electric furnace has devoured
Body and all else
Ashes mingled with water
Come now
Let us draw close and make love
Scrape claw lacerate each other
For one more lush life
*************
Relationship
A lifetime of alap-vistaar
Surdas?
Shall this muffled, garbled relationship
Never arrive at that jhala?
Yours and mine?
**************
Tune
Tune is disguised fire
Which you did not know
Scalding throat tongue lips it will
Slide you off your perch
And then pour over you a river of fire
***************
Bolted Attic
No, I do not unlock the door anymore
Do not dust
Or spray baygon
No garland or chandan
Long ago I have tossed you
Into the bolted attic
Just beside the broken doll
************
Anjana Chakrabarty teaches English at Beltala Balika Bidyalaya, Kolkata.
