Enigma

By Debasish Verma

"This volume is a collection of selected poems which captures a

view of life as seen through the lens of advanced years. They deal

with looking back, looking forward and a lot of looking around as

life unfolds. The writer blends a gift of Celtic vision and a mystical

approach to life. The writer comes from Hindu backgroun

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Release date: Apr 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9789361728709

Book preview

Pandemic

Again the sun will rise;

Again we will fly in the sky

Again we will drive on the roads which were deserted

for so long,

Again we will travel on the railway line, Hope will again kindle our lamps,

Again life will be mobile to maintain the balance that we had lost for a while.

But our thoughts will undergo a tremendous change; Our habits will take a new turn.

We will remodel our lifestyle,

Will set new rules that will shuffle our priorities in

life,

Will write a new book of law, will work on the

definition of equality.

One day we all will rise above the dust of deadly

disease,

That has paralyzed our brain, frozen our very

thoughts,

made our lungs so weak that breath failed.

In time, we will overcome the horror,

That has thrown the people into a prison of terror.

I am sure one day we all will rejoice, We will erase the crude script of ugliness,

And teach ourselves a lesson of how to live together without any armament and war.

But it will leave a mark on the sack of memory

And we will dig out this sad story, Whenever we look at the photos of bygone bravery and misery.

Lock down

I am deeply stricken to the core of my heart

To see millions die within such a short span of time.

Behind my closed windows,

I still can hear the sound of sorrow when I plug my

ears,

I can still see the helpless mass in the middle of the

holocaust,

Running here and there for the hope That is housed in the rare ventilator.

The glue of fear has stitched us together in a unique way;

The religion and the faith, the belief and practices,

The hatred and differences are all dissolved in the

pool of the blood of innocents.

I focus deeply on the sparkling clear rivulet

I saw it for the first time today.

From my terrace, I viewed the blue sky,

The blooming flowers all in the backdrop of an unusual morning silence that has spread everywhere.

I could clearly see the snow-clad mountains spreading from one end of the horizon to the other,

I could hear the chirping of birds, the buzzing of bees,

I was feeling the freshness of a morning breeze,

But I am deeply hurt to realize that many are no more

here.

I don’t know when my tears rolled down,

When my vision blurred,

When my throat choked and was closed by pain.

I was unable to see Him through unfocused eyes,

Unable to lift my hands for prayer,

I knelt down before the altar

Prayed Him to save us from adversity,

Oh! The almighty saved us all from this calamity.

Light up

Let us all light a candle today, Let us ward off the darkness,

And take the opportunity to clear away the haze of ignorance

From the grid of apathy

And bring all onto the secular platform of unity.

But I ask myself how to build the faith,

How to instill the hope,

How to mop up the hatred from the floor of mental

corridors,

How to wipe off the dust of abhorrence,

That has settled casually and shrouded the innocent?

I look here and there, searching everywhere,

To find an answer

That must have been hidden somewhere.

But I found no answer anywhere.

I crossed the lane and traveled towards the shore in a bewildered mood.

I was walking on the sand, paddling through the waves,

And constantly trying to look at myself

Against the backdrop of sun rays, To find the flaws, the drawbacks which I am carrying all the way.

Nation First

We need war to end the war,

To annihilate those who affront the verity

and valor of men with lethal munitions;

Who tries to mutilate the history

and crush the meaning to defame sovereignty, Who diverts the free will to promulgate the false narrative of sanity;

And sheepishly denounces the utterance of

‘Vande Mataram’ in every locality. We have to rekindle back the fervor

That is tripping through the blood of ardent

nationals;

We must fight to finish them,

Who spread the disgust and distrust, And restore the irrefutable unity of the nation who is ‘FIRST’.

Glass Jar

I was buying some candy bar housed in a plastic jar, Some chocolate, a few toffees, plus a pack of donuts and pastry

For my daughter who loves such things.

I was feeling happy to carry it in a paper bag

embossed with a modern tag,

But somehow I got held up at the corner of the

escalator;

Remembered a story so vivid and clear hopped

forward from my childhood memoir

When a small hand raised up to the glass jar

To select some lozenge with exotic flavor wrapped up

in many colors.

I can recollect the elation and the sense of

accomplishment;

when the clerk loosened the tin lid making a several

rotation

then handed me the packet nicely rolled, accompanied

by a smile.

Quietly I give over the coins which I had securely

restored

in a jute purse I so