Memories and Musings | Urmi Chakravorty

The Legacy of Longing

The diaphanous
sheets susurrate against the onyx parchment
As I gently turn the dog-eared pages of our mothballed 
     album—
The treasured cache of moments and memories of 
     bygone days
Conserved, before the scythe of Time mows us down.

As I gently turn the dog-eared pages of our mothballed 
     album
I chance upon ‘him’—self-assured, charismatic, 
     articulate—
The 2 a.m. buddy and confidant to my nerdy, antsy, 
     teenaged self.
Cupid struck, but with a slanted dart…and he, forever,
     remained unscathed.

The treasured cache of moments and memories of
     bygone days
Enshrouds the wringing, wrenching, carmine landscape 
     of my heart,
Crisscrossed by a breadcrumb trail of wistful longing,
Glossed over by the voguish masquerade of marital bliss!

Conserved, before the scythe of Time mows us down,
These metaphors of yesterday blend with my fragile todays
And gossamer tomorrows; and together, they help 
     me weave
The warp and weft of my soul’s fractured tapestry.

First published on Penmancy in November, 2022.

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April Blessings

Flashes of lightning streaking the skies,
Taking the fissured, sapless earth by surprise,
Drops of pure love, thy name is April showers!

Drenched leaves and stems waltz in glee,
Their rustling whispers are music to me,
Tiny prismatic droplets dangle on the bowers!

Purged of dust and grime, terra firma breathes easy again
My parched soul inhales the redolence of summer rain
Glens and vales come alive with fresh, iridescent flowers!

First published on ArtoonsInn Poetry Parlour in January, 2023.

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I Am

Sometimes I am Hope—
Weaving roseate, virile dreams in hoary, nebulous eyes
And heaving hearts, yearning for a fillip;
I play hide-and-seek with ennui, by the day
At night, I hum a plaintive lullaby of moth-eaten desires
Interred in the caverns of the infecund, impotent mind.

Sometimes I am Light—
Glinting off the Chardonnay in a crystal stein
Held by star-crossed lovers traipsing a parallel universe,
Immured within a prism of perennial passion,
Kissing the full-bodied, carmine lips of eternal youth, today
Only to be eclipsed by the penumbra of transience, 
     tomorrow.

Sometimes I am a Star—
Tucking my pearly corners into the moire duvet
Of the onyx sky, one spark at a time—
A luminous metaphor for waxing wishes,
Until I explode on the milky way of destiny,
Sprinkling confetti of crushed novalunosis and 
     half-kept promises.

I am a memory, I am a void,
I am a chuckle, I am a tear,
I am alchemy, I am Kintsugi
I am here, there, everywhere—
A celebration of life, an inventory of scars!

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©2023 Urmi Chakravorty
All rights reserved

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The 2023 (Inter)National Poetry Month BeZine Blog Bash

Art: European Robin, pastels, ©2021 Tom Higgins

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