Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 4, Number 2. November 2021. ISSN: 2581-7094
1.
Blankness
--- Nishi Pulugurtha
blankness stares back
From the white in front
The black keys with the
white letters
Look dull and dreary
A flicker of dust in a
corner
That stares back to
challenge
The wooden coaster with
its rings
that tell of years lived
Stands vacant in a
corner
the polish faded, in
shades of brown
“main zindagi ka saath
nibhata chala gaya”
Broken bits of a song
that lingers on
In the distant,
disjointed
Broken …
Prodding the halting
thoughts that swell
yet stop
like the green moss that
festers
and reeks
a few words on a blank
sheet.
Metal Figures
--- Nishi Pulugurtha
Metal figures arrayed in
a line
Disordered – creations
of hands
Cast aside, away
Scrap and mud and wire
to hold it all
Shining as they stand
That reveal stories that
need to be heard.
They stand on the wood
With specks of dust
invisible
Of gods, of men and
women
Labouring, struggling
Some smiles and some
talk
of recreating hope
in hard times
that cling on
that linger on
unwilling to let go.