Teesta Review: A
Journal of Poetry, Volume 7, Number 1. May 2024. ISSN: 2581-7094
--- Neera Kashyap
Rapid clacking of train wheels.
Occasional lights in the distance
blink uncertainly.
Clouds part before a moon
full with certainty.
Specks of moonlight glimmer
through the foliage of a dense tree;
in an open space its light
shines in fullness.
Behind closed eyelids
a lustre
shines on formless space.
Each eye an inch across, closed,
yet screens a vast void.
A flash that is unsustained.
The rapid clacking of wheels,
the throb of shifting rail tracks
Return
Gifts
--- Neera Kashyap
A forest fire is a glowering snake
slithering down a hill before dawn.
At dawn it is a series of cloud plumes,
thick, viscous and triumphant.
The next day it is less sure,
pervading the air in the vacuous hazy
fixture of an unwelcome guest.
Leaf debris drift in the wind
like black dead leeches.
A tarred road tries to snake off
the ascent of weak plumes. Eyes smart.
Magically, rain.
Delicate swirls of mist descend to
breathe out moist smoke in blue hills.
When the Buddha opened a gift wrapped in ribbon
he found an empty box.
He exclaimed: "Just what I wanted.
Nothing".
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Bio:
Neera Kashyap has worked in the field of social and health
communications. She has published a book for young adults, Daring to Dream
(Rupa & Co.) and contributed to several prize-winning anthologies for
children. Her manuscript of short stories, essentially on healing at all
levels, is in the pipelines with Niyogi books. Her work as a writer of poetry
(including haikai), short stories, book reviews and essays has appeared in
several international and Indian literary journals and poetry anthologies.
Internationally, her poetry has been published in journals in the US, UK,
Europe and Singapore. In India, the journals include RIC Journal, The Wise Owl
Art, Teesta Review, Outlook India, Rhetorica Quarterly, Yugen Quest Review, The
Punch Magazine, & Indian Cultural Forum. She lives in Delhi.
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