Poem 1 (8.1)

 

Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 8, Number 1. May 2025. ISSN: 2581-7094

 

 City Lights

--- Aritrik Dutta Chowdhury

 

A city busy in gaslighting

Now has new street lights

That dangle like chandeliers

In disgrace

In the middle of roads.

 

That night was different.

The white lights were camouflaged

In the golden hue

Of flickering flames,

And the redness of a

Million pair of eyes.

 

She passed away

Not with a whimper but a bang.

Her eyes shunned

Lit up questions in sundry ways,

Eyes glowing red with rage

And white with weary fear

Kept asking for rights.

The city walked:

Candle lights on her cornice,

Troy united, proud to be burnt down

Stood in a chain like a human shield

Resisting rampages.

 

A month later,

They had banned fire-crackers

But Sreebhumi had Christmas lights in the streets of February.

 

My city often lights

Even without city lights.

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Bio:

 Aritrik Dutta Chowdhury is faculty in the department of English, Acharya Girish Chandra Bose College. He has been inking verses and stories and has published his papers and articles in manifold books and journals His recent publications include a book titled: From Bacon to Blog and Speak and Write Right. He has also published a collection of poems titled Prohor Bhanga Prohori.

 

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