
Dying on the Amorous Doomsday
Sreetanwi Chakraborty (India)
I waited for the war to resume
More bombs and less rose petals now
In the ritualistic seclusion of a war-ravaged country
Living meant an innocuous shedding of autumnal leaves –
“Why do you cry?” The mother with a dying voice asked the child
“How did you learn to beguile your dreams?”
The child answered: “My hands forget to hold the paper boat now, with a firm grip,
I count days, bombs and bullets.
My books are bedridden, petrified roses of Damascus
I belch blood with a cursed sonnet
I invite you to sing me a blood-stained lullaby
With gasping stanzas that will
No longer smell a day born.”