If all I had was a question?: Poetry

If all I had was a question?

Arunav Barua

If all I had was a question,

Would you have an answer ready?

Journeying through the veiled seconds

Stopping at stations of memory

Where, for moments, we smile

We could tell each other stories,

Of great deeds in great lands

Or, we could just hold hands and look,

To see that distant star in the heavens.

Perhaps we would have a few laughs,

Together with our evening tea

Perhaps we would snuggle up together

When tired eyes get sleepily dreamy

We would sing songs without meaning

Silly in their essence, but true at heart

We could challenge the elements

If all I had was a question,

Would you have an answer ready?

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Black is my favourite colour

Saswati Kashyap

Black is my favourite colour.

Raw and pure-

No pretension, nofacade

To hide artifice.

Is this the reason

People panic in the dark?

Lest they confronttheir innate selves

Bare and brutal -

Unvarnished to the least?

My granny said,

'Don't go out in the dark'.

I demanded her the reason

With childlike curiosity.

'Beasts and monsters love to play in the dark,'

She said.

Ah! Those youngsters, so naïve-

They felt music in the dark.

And loved rhythm

Of the plains, hills

And the wild.

Dreadlocks, bandana and 'gogona'

Enough to form a (wrong) idea?

Hurry! Clip the wings of birds

That sing of tolerance

And cripple their dream of union!

Plant the seeds of anger and hatred

And water it with politics of schism-

Let its branches spiral up

Forming a labyrinth--

Where humanity cannot tread!

Remember? I told you-

'Don't go out in the dark, without informing us.'

The man in khaki grins, smartphone in hand.

Black, black-

I love the colour black

Raw and brutal

Unbares the truth in all.

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The passage of wind

Buddhadev Nandi

The morning wind

From the distant hill

Passed over the seas

Being invigorated with zeal.

Then it called the mariners

To sail on their ships

Those who were waiting overnight

For going so deep.

When it passed over

The golden beach

Forbade the breakers

To proceed beyond their reach.

Then it hovered over

For a brief moment

To enjoy the glimpse of

The sunbeams on the golden sand.

The wind then proceeded

Through the woods slumber

Urging the wild birds

To sing their sweet numbers.

When it blew over

The paddy ground

Whispered of the morn

With soughing sound.

The wind then reached

The farmhouse near

To winnow away the husks

From the corns in the air.

After that it reached

In the sprawling ground

Where the children were

Playing in joy around.

Then it blew over the earth

Scorched by the sun till noon

With the promises of

Assuaging her from the heat so soon.

The mild wind then blew

From the south in the evening

To recapitulate the whole of the work

That has been started since morning.

At last the wind rattled past

In the darkness of night

With the promises of bringing

The message of a new dawn full of light.

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Seven makes it complete!

ArunavBarua

One is the beginning, a newness, a start,

It holds all possibilities, of all that is,

It is that moment when we release the dart

Two gives direction, it is the writing on a chart,

Where we are meant to go, when released,

In two, all that counts are matters of the heart

Three brings focus, it rests on vision,

When we see the path ahead of us,

It is a time of reflective action and revision

Four brings forth a hunger akin to fire,

It burns everything on its way

It is that which brings out desire

Five gives us acceleration to reach the goal,

We speed up without looking back,

With it we assume we are on a roll

Six is the potential slowly released now,

To reach where we were going all along

It answers that question when we ask how

Seven, the last colour on that rainbow,

Completes the count to finally come home

All questions are met with answers that show.