Two Poems by Mitali Chakravarty  

1 

The Child

Under the darkened skies

of unease, broken-toothed

war pleads with pitchforked

tongue of faith gone astray.

Drenched in blood, squirm

weeping women re-enacting

Guernica. Reconstructions

of cries and pain drain the

fading beams of hope. In that

gloaming I clutch, clutch the

last beam of the sun as it

sinks into the breast of night.

With rapturous cries, midnight

upheaves till dawn is born. The

child crawls with hope towards

a new light to love and be loved.

 2

Open Skies

The child grasps sunlight

streaming through windows

that open the skies to love.

In wonder, he watches the

rays as they brighten the day.

He attempts to grasp the light.

The poet plays with words to

build a universe with love.

The sun goes behind a cloud

but the dream never ends.

Words dance with light to

create a beam of hope.

*

Image: BBG Tilak