Two Poems by Laksmisree Banerjee

Laksmisree Banerjee is a seasoned poet. She has delved into diverse themes in her poetic verses! Pondering over the existential question of identity she seeks parallels in nature to find her true self! Playing upon the ideas of ‘lonely’ and ‘solitary’ she seeks parallels in nature. She finds loneliness in the solitary leaves of ‘saal or peepul’ in deep dark forests, in the song of the thrush, in the home sparrow or orphaned kitten. Whereas solitude defines the magnitude of an eagle’s lone flight, the blooming of a majestic red rose, the solitary reaper’s song, the peacock’s dance of joy, the snowcapped summit or the lighthouse! She resolves her dilemma in seeking love in the guise of the star that shows way to the divine! She dwells upon the idea of time as relative in her poetic effort to define it! Both her poems resonate profound spiritual truths as they ultimately reconcile and make peace with the divine in his myriad manifestations in his creations …in nature!

1. WHAT AM I

Am I lonely?

a single saal or peepul

a birch or pine

in cackling, crowded forests of darkness?

am I the darkling thrush

solely singing with a soul

shredded to herald the end of light

crying for redemption or audience?

or that home sparrow

flitting and twittering

with fleeting time in

abandoned household corners of dustiness?

or am I a motherless kitten

picked up by a dog

for his rapacious hours?

May be or may be not

What am I? ….

Am I solitary?

an eagle of the azure

flapping high

across the horizon

daring in magnificence?

or am I the single red rose

a blazing, fragrant beauty

among spikes and nettles

of green evil?

or that solitary reaper

in bardic consonance

with her plenteous corn?

or am I a peacock

happy to dance

in myriad hues

with silvery drizzles

and none to watch?

or am I that icy peak

scintillating white

daring the climber

to reach its summit?

or am I the happy traveller

collecting my shining

shells and shingles

on a beach of discovery?

or am I that lighthouse

of resplendence

showing the way to

those in oceanic turbulence?

Lonely or solitary

I yearn to be the Bright Star

of the bard’s romance

or perhaps

the Star of the Magi

finding my way into

that cradle of Love—

2. TIME

Is it a cradle

swinging in the void

humming a

lull-a-by to

the ever joyful

the ever crying

baby of life

now awake

now asleep?

Is it a pendulum

between two eternities

ceaselessly ticking

on the listless

glassy face of

old grandfather

on the wall

moving yet

motionless

for centuries?

Or is it a chugging

train

sometimes whistling

sometimes speedily

quiet

but always beating

the perennial rhythm

of a journey?

Or is it perhaps

the hollow

ghostly skull of

a ravaged home

burnt down

with riotous hate

yet static like

an open mouth

after being throttled

to death on

a blood-stained

page of history?

Or is it the chiming

footsteps

of wavering in

distressed separation,

searching for

the lost lover

in a deep dark forest

across the

never ending

prickly path of

seething scents in

simmering flames

hoping to be

quenched with love?

Or is it a green

olive tree

or perhaps a saal

peepul, banyan

or mahua

or trees standing still

with full-grown hibiscus

palash or red oleanders

moving yet not so

as I move on

sitting tight

on my seat

in a running bus?

What is time?

Where is time?

does it flow

in my veins

or down the river?

or is it my

thumping heart-beat

waiting to go

to the other side

to meet my maker?

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