Petrichor

The summer sun
High up,
Had been covered.
My windows are flung open,
The clouds gather.
The soil sings,
Descending octaves now soar,
The soil cheers,
Plants wave and revive,
I cherish the petrichor.

-

Goodbyes are mostly hard,
Remaining are easy,
Sometimes, confusing.
But, all of them are liberating,
How to -
Drop the baggage and move on,
If you know.

-

आज भी है मुझे।
सिली हुई मेरी लबों को -
अगर छू ले कभी,
तेरी लंबे,
शायद एक नई दास्तां से रुबरु होगी,
कायनात पूरे।

-

I do not know how,
But the lies you wrap,
In coloured wrappers of your words,
Tie it with the ribbons reading privacy,
I can see through.
And instead of feeling disappointed,
I smile,
And cheer the sparks that still reside
In my heart - pure and sincere,
Still believing my love for you,
Will change this facade you try to put on.

-

তারা সবাই আছে,
তারাদের মতনই -
জাজ্বল্যমান,
আর - আমার থেকে
হাজার হাজার আলোকবর্ষ দূরে।

-

ঘরের মেয়ে পায় না বিচার,
বোধন মা তোর তাও হবে - আবার,
এত আঢ্য, এত আয়োজন,
মা তোর হয়না মনে,
সব নিষ্প্রয়োজন!
আসিস এবার বিচার হাতে,
সব অভয়ার বরাভয় হয়ে।
যে নারী আজ চায় না বিচার,
দেখিয়ে দে মা তোর কঠিন শাসন,
নিপাত যাক সব প্রহসন।

-

Whatever is meant to be gone,
Will go.
Whatever is meant for you,
Will arrive and stay.
The ones who are meant to leave,
Will leave,
Without ever thinking that you might be alone.
The ones who are meant to stay will stay,
No matter how much you push them away.
They will find means and ways,
To be there, right beside you.
They would know - even if you withdraw,
Or hide behind a shell,
Or build around a castle,
It will need only love and patience to breakthrough,
To catch you unguarded and raw,
Entwined in your own virtues and vices,
Securely sheltering you in the embrace.
And then you would know why it is said - trust the timing,
And why it is always worth the wait.

-

THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM

Fully conscious and in good health
I am writing today my will …

After my death
Ransack my room
Search each item
That is scattered
Unlocked
Everywhere in my house
— % &THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM
Contd...


Donate my dreams
To all those women
Who between the confines of
The kitchen and the bedroom
Have lost their world
Have forgotten years ago
What it is to dream

— % &THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM
Contd...

Scatter my laughter
Among the inmates of old-age homes
Whose children
Are lost
To the glittering cities of America

There are some colours
Lying on my table
With them dye the sari of the girl
Whose border is edged
With the blood of her man
Who wrapped in the tricolor
Was laid to rest last evening
— % &THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM
Contd...


Give my tears
To all the poets
Every drop
Will birth a poem
I promise

My honour and my reputation
Are for the woman
Who prostitutes her body
So her daughter can get an education

— % &THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM
Contd...

Make sure you catch the youth
Of the country, everyone
And inject them
With my indignation
They will need it
Come the revolution

My ecstasy
Belongs to
That Sufi
Who
Abandoning everything
Has set off in search of God
— % &THE WILL OF AMRITA PRITAM
Contd...

Finally
What’s left
My envy
My greed
My anger
My lies
My selfishness
These
simply
Cremate with me.

------- by Amrita Pritam



— % &

-

Unspoken words pile up as mountains,
There's so much to share,
So much to spill and make it bare,
But not even a single heart around,
To be beside,
To lean on and breathe a bit more,
Instead the mountain weighs so much,
Heart sinks,
Breathing becomes even heavier,
And that's how loneliness feels.

-

That moment
Is etched deeply,
When your lips,
Found refuge in mine.
Time froze - the moment became eternal,
All fears, and inhibitions,
Shattered,
I gathered.
Deep down, in the darkest abyss,
You lit a light,
Kindled fire,
Setting a cascade of
Unknown emotions - free,
As the molten lava flows.

-