Two Poems by Mitali Chakravarty

By Mitali Chakravarty

Silences

Silences are like the sky.
They stretch out uninterrupted,
punctuated by sounds
accentuating the quiet

The stillness. The emptiness of the mind
interspersed by clouds of white
lined with a touch of grey.
Sprays of sunshine paint warmth

Silences never end.
They are like death.
Restful, deep sleep.
The soul’s manna that feeds peace

There are silences that oppress,
that are born of fear, of chaos,
violenced, full of hate, dark,
simmering with bloody shouts

Silences of the oppressed,
the hurt, the unspoken voices
that wreak havoc in an
orchestrated concert of humanity

The two silences vie. Will they harmonise?
Or will the sky overwhelm humans
at the reckoning between the rising and
setting of the blood smeared coronal sun?

Lalon* sings of the insignificant dance in
harmony with the silence studded vastness
that stretches in an unblinking
timescape of the infinite, eternal universe.

*Lalon: A eighteenth-nineteenth century mystic, fakir, writer and thinker who lived in Bengal.

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Questions

The sky connects countries, cities, towns. Erases borders. It glues together peace in an endless blue harmony, sometimes interrupted by the vibrancy of orange sunsets or gold sunrises. It is home to birds, home to flights of fancy or aeroplanes, home to clouds, home to many, the ceiling to the home we call Earth.

The sky connects the Earth to the Universe. Space stations that fringe the outside of the stratosphere pause to stargaze, hoping to build a home for mankind beyond the reaches of a single planet. The planet, where mankind started, pauses in its parenting of homo sapiens. The species on Earth are all in conference – a harmonious hum draws to a close. A reconnaissance starts with humans to see where all dwellers will be, where the Earth will stand.

Mankind grows. It abounds in its vivacity and celebrates itself. Does it have space for others? Does it nurture its home, the Earth? Will it be restricted in Time, in Space, in Eternity? Will it pause in its race?

Will it have a future on Earth or Off Earth?

Bio:
Mitali Chakravarty is a writer and the founding editor of Borderless Journal. She likes to ride on light beams and waft among clouds in quest of a world filled with ideas mooted by her idol, the eighteenth-century poet Lalon. She seeks a world sealed with love, tolerance, kindness, and harmony.

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