Ruins

Raja Chakraborty is a much-published poet. His poems are crisp, playful, deep, weaving beautiful images with lofty thoughts. Chakraborty is a seasoned poet who says little to convey much. Poems like ‘Washed and Dried’, ‘Shape of a woman’ give a taste of his oeuvre. He has an eye for details. His images are synesthetic, evoking multiple senses at once. Raja’s words not only create visuals but also convey motion and evoke the mood of the poet through a tapestry of powerful images. The poet draws hope distilled from life’s ruins.

Born and brought up in Kolkata with parents having an intense interest in literature, poet Raja Chakraborty grew up in ambient surroundings. His schooling was from Patha Bhavan which added to the flavour. Having done his Masters in English Literature from Calcutta University, Raja Chakraborty turned out to be a bilingual poet writing in Bengali and English.

Till date he has published four books of English poems all of which has been well-received by readers and found critical acclaim. They are Soup Bowl and Other Poems, Whispers in the Wind, Broken Lines and Rainbows and About Maya and Other Poems. The fifth one, Where the Shadow Falls is expected shortly. All of Raja Chakraborty’s books have been published by Hawakal Publishers.His poetry is regularly published in various anthologies and magazines, both in India and abroad. Raja, a senior bureaucrat by profession, also doodles, sketches and paints apart from being a keen sportsman.

Ruins:

here I stand

amongst ruins of

roasted chestnuts

summer has eaten

a squirrel peeps

in memory

of lost kernels

fleet-footed, wide-eyed

up on hind legs

surveying the emptiness

dried leaves, red soil

scurrying ants-

busybodies searching

for remnants

pods and evergreens

in slow decay, rotting

then there was

this kite

circling high above

choosing between the

squirrel and me

for there was

nothing but leftovers

of green flesh

burning to ashes in

summer’s avaricious belly

dead rivers wept stones

hollow clouds hung

lazy in an ageing sky

I with sad cicadas and

a handful of sacred snow

from a malnourished

iceberg dreamt of

unending rains

to breathe life

to live again

©️ Raja Chakraborty

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