Poetry by Mitali Chakravarty

Sonata

Sometimes tears flow
like rain for cakes that 
remain unbaked, 
birthdays that evoke 
whiffs of honeysuckle, 
amloki*, birds, cats, roses, 

blood bonds that override
differences, even if they seem 
to create distances bridged 
by unconditional love.

Intertwined with harmonica notes, 
the scent of freshly brewed coffee
mourns what could have been 
but was not. Like distant chords 
of a broken sonata, life plays along. 
With practice, you again learn to live in tune.

*Indian gooseberry

Immigrant

Chaotic cacophony creates
walls, stones to cement
rituals that annihilate,
hurt, colour with hate.

Manic madness 
drenches, tears a home —
incarnadined, the mob 
frenzies to a wave of
fury, frightening with
sounds that thump 
fear, incomprehension.
 
Looking for peace, a release,
the migrant sings against the 
setting sky. Home stretches
anywhere, everywhere shaded
by hues of love and acceptance. 

A Love Story

Waves ebb from the beach
recede towards the setting 
sky to mingle with twilight.

The velveteen spangled night
watches as the sush of the sea
shapes a frothy staircase. 

The moon descends, fluttering 
 shivering in response to unbidden
caresses, clinging, reflecting. 

The sky and the sea entwine
in an embrace of love, weaving
with intricate heaves the saga of 
the resplendent refulgent universe. 

Mitali Chakravarty writes for love and harmony and in that spirit has founded the Borderless Journal.