Three Poems by Gopal Lahiri

Three Poems by Gopal Lahiri

Smile

On the cluttered pavement,

A boy fixes his eyes to nowhere,

Rickety hands have only scars and wounds.

He never goes to school, never read rhymes

Never play with the butterflies, smell the flowers

Sleep on the streets unwanted and alone.

He has seen sun being merciless on his frail body

He has seen clouds only to be battered by rain

He has seen moon through his hungry eyes.

Tears roll into his eyes when he is beaten up for nothing

Still he works on to feed his empty stomach

Struggle hard to live life, save the day and night.

His weak legs do not hide the spider veins,

Unmindfully hold a poster board...telling the world

Look at me and spare a smile, it’s free.

Sharing Thoughts

Come and sit here, in this narrow, windy courtyard

To pursue, to seek, to find and return to what I am

Perhaps an era, an eon has walked past slowly.

Share something that blossoms; knowing your thoughts are roots

Shift but never change to another image, grow but never wane

A forward step, nothing behind, a flash of lightening in an empty sky.

We are miles apart, you say, life isn’t like that fires within,

Something is on the way, something is blocking the view

Turning on the light, still lock in our magical dreams.

You are the true musicians, bringing smiles to my heart

Lit up the mind with shafts of your melodious light,

A kind heart underlying the flame, flickering images persist.

You always say- goes to the root look inside and pray

For promises carve in the mountains and rocky stretches

I feel shy, awkward, can’t express what is in my heart?

Pencil Sketch

A pencil sketch

Look at me every night

All that is good or bad

Eyes not in cohesion,

The aimless game

Lurking around

From one end to the other…

A contoured face

Explodes in anger

To get the fire along

A whiff of suspicion,

Her lips quiver

Drifts in a low song

Able to speak the truth…

And then all of a sudden

Her silent words

Each note each syllable

Crumbles in tears,

Winds whistle through

The cracks of the wall

You look like him…exactly like.

Author’s Bio: Gopal Lahiri, a bilingual poet from India, has been writing poetry for more than twenty years. He writes both in English and Bengali.He also occasionally writes fiction, short story, essay, articles on current affairs and scientific interest and does translation work. He is an earth scientist and currently lives in the coastal state of Gujarat, India.

He has had six poetry collections in Bengali published from India and four collections in English published from Lulu, USA. His latest poetry collection in English (Silent Steps) has been published from Cyberwit, India. His literary works appeared in print (notably in Indian Literature, Taj Mahal Review and Illuminations) and electronic publications (Arts and Letters, Underground Window, Muse India, Poetry Stop, Debug etc) worldwide and his poems published in several anthologies (National Treasures, A posy of poesy,  Concerto, Poet’s paradise, Global Fusion Voice, The Silence within etc) printed in India and abroad. He is a regular contributor of poems to several poetry web sites. He can be reached at: glahiri@gmail.com.