It’s so dark and dry under the tree,
the leaves are filling a doorway.
Emptiness takes me there, a few more steps,
Any further, the whisper breaks into alphabet.
How deep it goes, this soul,
shadows moving between two pillars,
Restless, am I restless?
face to face with blankness,
The silence reaches height
and then unable to bear it.
The noise is back in a murky robe
probe the minute holes in my heart.
A dream as old as sleep waits,
the end comes and goes into the wilderness.
Gopal Lahiri
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual, Kolkata based poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 27 books published, including eight jointly edited books. His poetry is also published across various anthologies as well as in eminent journals of India and abroad. His poems are translated in 17 languages and his works are published in 14 countries. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize, US for poetry in 2021. He is the recipient of the Setu Excellence Award, 2020, Pittsburgh, US.
