Venom, it is

And the ink drop bursts on the ground
The venom crawls clinging to itself
Dreams, floating through the void
Ask him, Where have the wings gone?

A migraine rises through his veins
Feathers, Are they also this light?
Fading lights beckon him into darkness,
Wandering visions, mist and a glide.

Forsaken handshakes, forgotten boats
Long lost horizon, cascading smiles
"You pour venom through your words"
Sentences, multitudes lost in veils of time.

A mention of venom and his muscles wake up
The shoulder blades jerk the silence away
Blood rushes through the arteries to pointed nails
And starts an acid rain; black, hideous letters
Shoot through him like war trained horses
Leave behind the ones who fell behind
Heart sets fire to the canon; Venom, yes he is!

The Victory march

I heard the bells
Far away, they were singing
Of victory : The city, they said
Had fallen; And they were singing
Canons, bullets and shrieks;
The music was soft, piercing.

How many moments did we have
Before our flags were to be burned?
Murmurs of escape kept floating
The distant fire was just a gimmick,
Among hurried voices and records
I stood, engulfed in flames of failure.

It is ready, the General whispered
I looked at him, pondering over
My decision. Was I playing God?
"Sir", he waited. I touched
The cold red button, I took a moment;
The final one, triggering the third  in history.

Vapour and Ash

The fire slowly ate into the wood
The barks vapourised to reveal
A juicy flesh within but to the fire
Everything was same; kept digging deep.

He stared long into the burning log,
Two states, he thought; vapour and ash
But it wasn't important, the fire went deep
Some objects don't need to melt.

The molten state is for everyone to see,
For everyone to inspect, examine, judge.
The melted, even though an advanced state
Still clings to the ground and is never free.

He thought of the inner flesh, now burning
A sadness engulfed him; It doesn't have long
To burn out. He wanted it hard to come out
Such a shame that it never saw light.

He tore apart his letter for the third time
Relentless in this burning,
He kept searching for the final tide
Once, even for once if his truth saw light!
Vapour or Ash, someday the wood must fly.
 

An October drizzle

The rolling tyres made a faint approaching sound  from the horizon. Somewhere on the forsaken highway, Deep sat, strumming tides of the Bohemian Rhapsody. He had a hat on to neutralize the smiling Sun. Leaning on a milestone, he kept playing to his wishes as a few trucks sped by in hourly intervals. A sudden cloud cover alerted Deep. Just as he was beginning to consider his fate in the rain, the tyres came to a stop by the milestone.

"Hey ass! What took you so long? Bara kotokkhon dhore boshe achi bolto!"
Deep shouted at the driver.

Ali, the recipient, signaled him to get in the car in his typical manner : a wink.

"Sala faltu case khetam arektu hole." Deep was still complaining when the first drops appeared on the windscreen.

As Ali put the car in gear, Deep set the music to "Riders on the storm".

Ali: Memories, Man! Shei mone ache jokhon prothom gari ta niye berolam Pujoy, ami, tui, Batu, Alu, Shubhra... bhai kichu din chilo re

Deep: Stop fretting over the past. Except for us, all these bastards are married. They don't even bother to come home for Pujo.

Ali: You were the one who started it, remember? You stayed back in Kolkata while we all came here. What was the year... 2016? 17?

Deep: 14. Yeah, well I was in love for the first time. What do you mean by "You started it"? I arrived late that year but I did arrive. It all started with Shubhra. Asshole got married the same year in December, got Sneha pregnant and then all we know is he's not coming! Are bhai, at least pore ashti. He just gave up visiting Balurghat for Pujo ever since.

Ali: Fifteen years! The world has changed so much, hasn't it ? I can't identify with most things anymore.

Deep: I really don't think about it too much, you know. The world is what it is. It's just the way we see it, changes. I don't think we are significant enough to have changed the world in such a short span. Just because everyone around me is enjoying a family, doesn't necessarily mean that it has started raining in October!

Ali (chuckles) : And we are driving in the October rain.

Deep: Precisely, my point.

Ali : Ei sob funda kono sundori ke dile to elaborate na koriye charbe na!

Deep: Sundori te jacchis kano! Ora to antlamo dekhlei baar khaoyay.

Ali: Tui ki ebar Khuswant Singh hoyar katha bhabchis? Gyani..., gouno..., jouno...

Deep : jouno ta tao ache... tobe baki duto to serom holo na. Tai Khuswant Singh II hoyar icche borjon korai jay.

Ali: Ta tui ei highway te guitar bajiye show off korchili kano?

Deep: Bal! Dekhar lok kothay peli tui? Emni sokh holo eka boshte.

Ali: Hat pore country singer look niye Balurghat er dhare highway te Jim Croce eshechen!

Deep: Jim Croce hat porten na by the way!

Ali: tui dekhechis, na porte? Bal oi to youtube video te curly hair-e duto chobi dekhechis! Batela.

Deep : "If I could save time in a bottle"...bhai.. only if

Ali: "But there never seems to be enough time..."

Deep: Probably, the best song I've ever heard...

Ali: "If I had a box just for wishes
       and dreams that would never come true...
       the box would be empty,
       except for the memory
              of how they were answered by you..."

The Santro faded into the Southern horizon as the October rain slowly made way for the Afternoon Sun.

kuttar baccha

hothat bohu din por aj "amake amar moto thakte dao" shunte icche holo. kano holo, seta niye noy nai bakyo byay korlam. andhokar akash-e jemon hothat bhor er alo chhute chole ashe, temni onek kichu ektu age hothat-i poriskar hoye utheche. rastar kukur gulo ei samay tai govir nidrar swad pay. saradin klanto, khudartho hoye edik sedik ghure beroy. pete khabar na jutleo lathi, tara esob jutei jay. sei kukur der i ekjon ektu age khub dakchilo. ghum nosto kore ei kukur er awaj boroi birokto kore tullo amake. tarpor janala diye baire cheye dekhlam. amar dike takiye nihstobdho hoye dnariye roilo kichukkhon kukur ta. tarpor du bar deke shuye porlo. kukuer baccha sala! amar ghum bhangiye nije lej gutiye ghumate chole gelo! khub raag holo. mone holo soja giye juto peta kori. kintu porokkhonei mone holo saradin ami chobbochosso gilechi, gaan shunechi, mon bhore sobai ke galagal diye paisa-o kamiyechi. kintu ei bechara kukur ki peyeche? roj hoyto ei dokan theke lathi kheye anyo dokan jay. sekhane keu mukher samne ek tukro biscuit chnure day. pet e khide niye kukur korun chokhe jei tar monib er dike takiyeche, omni "jah jah" bole tariye deoya hoy take. ebhabei porityakto hoye ghurte ghurte konodin hoyto ek mosto dami gari rastay pishe diye jabe take. neri kutta ke manush kukur bole sommodhon o korena. edike nijeder wolves der descendant bole prochar korte ei kukur jatio kokhono pichpa hoyna. asole "roots" bole katha, pet porishkar rakhte naki sahajyo kore. are fnaka pet abar porishkar! jai hok ami janala bondho kortei abar gheu gheu korte shuru kore dilo. abak hoye janala khullam. dekhlam sei kukur r nei, tobe bhor hoye geche. kukur ke jaate tullam ki na janina kintu mukh diye berolo shuorer baccha.

kukur niye kobi kichu bhebeche. kintu kukur to kobi ke niye bhabe ni. tai kobi r kutta mile "kobita" toiri holo na. lompot kukur, hoyto satyii jaate utheche.

bela

Ful tulecho?
Toloni?
Amar priyo bokul gulo aj pothei pore roilo, tahole?
Amari uchit chilo
Sokale kuasha mekhe tader niye asha
tumi to kokhonoi chaoni, uthte..

ami je bhebechilam anbo
tomar kol e ek ek kore sob sajiye debo
kintu pothe jano.. icche holo na
jantam na emon hobe
kokhon je saanjh neme elo...

Kintu amar je sokh mitlo na
ki hobe? din je furiye gelo
tamosha ghonacche.. deep jwalabe na?
aj bhoy korche hothat.. thak amader ful
tumi deep jwele amar kache thako.

Deep to poloker janyoi jwolbe
Bhoy er bela to kokhon periyeche
R amader bela to besh boroi chilo bhebe dakho
tokhon samay chaitam amra..
samay amader chaiche aj, esho gaan dhora jak.

Jei gaan amader

Circles

Condensed mist rolls down the railing
The rewind button's on autopilot mode
Strings question decisions and ambitions
Past/ future, sorrow/ happiness; damn highway!

Human moods; circles on a circumference
Steps hate to remain stationary nowadays
Droplets of despair succumb to hope
And the weakness slowly makes way for strength.

Irony : The Infinite Potential of Imagination.

The cigarette kept slowly turning into ash and finally gave him a violent reminder before succumbing to its inevitable fate. Dev, irritated with his miseries cursed at the bud and threw it away. Life quite wasn't going the way he hoped it to be. He was yet to receive his incremented salary, even though the management had promised the hike half a year ago. His best friend had recently started dating a girl and Dev, expectedly was left to fend for himself. He missed his parents but home wasn't just a mile away. To Dev, life seemed to go into a downward spiral. To make matters worse, his college sweet heart, Preety had texted him few minutes ago, saying she missed him nowadays. Dev didn't have even the slightest remnant of love for Preety. He was annoyed with her text and ended up calling her up on the phone. By life's tricks, Sujoy (the worst villain of his yesteryears) picked up the phone. Dev, feeling terribly betrayed by his own luck threw away the cell phone and lit the story-starter cigarette.

                                                                With nothing else to do at midnight, he called up Sreeja.
Checkpoint:  Sreeja Chatterjee : lives alone, average-Bong height, intellectually close to Dev (or Dev's desire, still doubtable!), fair, not typically hot by appearance, looks fantastic in blue, and other features to be discussed along the way.

Sreeja picked up with her trademark tone of "hello!", a strange solution of warmth and playfulness. Ignoring his thoughts on her tone, Dev asked, "Can we talk?"
Sreeja, the smart woman spoke in a little discouraging tone, " Yes, sure. Is anything wrong?"
Dev usually respects Sreeja's tones but tonight he didn't care, "Can I come over to your place? I'm not feeling alright." Before Sreeja could add to the conversation, he added," At all!"
Sreeja and Dev lived within twenty minutes of each other. Given, they were good friends for sometime, she didn't have any reason to ask him not to come.

Fourteen minutes later...

Sreeja opened the door as a sweaty Dev walked in with an apologetic smile. They went to her bedroom and sat on opposite ends of the bed.
Sreeja :What has happened?
Dev looked straight at her, got up from his position and kneeled down in front of her.
Sreeja was quite taken aback by this unexpected behaviour. She wasn't quite ready for this or what was about to follow.
Dev started crying. He was inconsolable. It is extraordinary how human emotions work. Sreeja, on one hand felt terrible for her friend's misery and at the same time a pride swept through her that she had somehow earned this esteemed position in his life.

One and half months later...

Sreeja (sobbing) : Tell me what I can do! How long am I supposed to wait? It is already late by a month.
Dev: I don't know. Are you sure about the strip?
Sreeja: Why? Do you want to check for yourself?
Dev: Okay, let's see a doctor.
Sreeja: What am I going to tell Mihir? My parents will never talk to me!
Dev: No one needs to know anything.
Sreeja: What? Are you suggesting I kill it?
Dev: Are you suggesting otherwise? Come on!
Sreeja: No, I'm not. But cold blooded murder! It's all your fault! Why did you throw yourself on me?
Dev: 'because I've wanted nothing else more in this life ever. I wasn't stopped, either.
Sreeja: Please! Don't justify yourself now.
Dev: Every time I saw you walk away, every time you spoke close to me, I have wanted you. I have wanted you in my senses, in my dreams. I have wanted you while wanting you was sin and I have wanted you ever since!
Dev pulled Sreeja close to him and kissed her lips deeply. Sreeja's palms moved all over Dev's back to the back of his head. Irresistible it was. He tore open her nighty and dived into her soft breasts. Sreeja pulled his shirt out in a desire so violent that everything seized to exist nearby. Dev sucked her firm nipples and pulled her up by her thighs. She kept biting his lips, neck and whatever she could dig her teeth into. He pushed her to the wall. This union was the most natural experience of their lives. Both of them had existing sex lives. But this was raw. For once, they were animals.


Epilogue

Sreeja masturbated as her husband slept soundly by her side. If only, her imaginations were her memories.

Dev kept sleeping soundly as his wife masturbated alongside him.

The Commander

The Northern wind whistles again;
The Men, the dagger-hearts step out
By the fire; giving strength to the night
Flickers of snow and air burn together.

Horses, tired and wounded beg with silence
Animals, it is said, have undiscovered senses
Warm citadels sleep, myths and closed eyes
And yet, whatever is spoken of, isn't a lie.

Sides, centre, roads await the next strike
Red, green, blue - everything's dark at night
The truth reveals itself only to the truly blind
For men have other senses, apart from sight.

The commander rises, arms of steel;
He has tonight, a new vision of darkness
He knows the arrow's flying for him
He blows the horn, his heart's ready to bleed.

p.s. We know what's coming...

A dedication

And I have this night, supposedly
The full Moon silently reflects
Another lonely soul, may be
For billions of years, they say.

What's in a crowd that laughs aloud?
Answers, unknown, might seek solitude,
 Feathers still remain but the bird doesn't
I have this room, this night and memories abundant.

(Inspired by "Aj jotsna raate" by Rabindranath Tagore)

The Starving Stranger

"I am dying of starvation",
Said the man with the bow;
His quiver was empty
And his eyes pictured sorrow.

"My life revealed itself", he said
Lines of regret along his forehead,
"What you search for, is your fuel
And your search must not be answered!"

Was he a soldier, I wondered
Or was he a mere hunter?
His feet bled and his voice echoed,
"Every passion ends in disgrace!"

He spoke like a hermit, a defeated sage
His arms seemed weak, signed by age;
"I have food but I cannot eat,
 I have answers but have no need."

Finally he spoke directly to me,

"I starve for ignorance,
 For ignorance is bliss.
 Renounce Renounce Renounce
 For you are not Him."