Teesta Review: A
Journal of Poetry, Volume 7, Number 2. November 2024. ISSN: 2581-7094
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Aritrik Dutta Chowdhury
The resplendence of the candles
Die out into a benumbing night,
A night where you and I,
Wait etherized.
Effervescence is our only essence.
You stand with a scythe
To trim the off shoots
That fork your garden of trust,
While I await an eternity.
Into the vortex
Of a purgatorial flame
Jumps the Frankensteins
That ward off possibilities
Of a ratiocination.
Your invincible pride
Kills my indomitable love
Rupturing a nameless orphan.
People see a friendship
Worthy of envy.
A Tomorrow with you
Gets obscured by diwali lights.
Claim for Light
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Aritrik Dutta Chowdhury
The night was always yours to claim.
The bird of night
Sits at your feet
Escorting you to the pristine tower.
You are the wealth, the treasure – chest
Who leaves trails on paddy fields
But brings autumn
When your daughter is usurped.
Each night was yours to dare,
When you chose to silently allow
Vultures eating away your pride,
Or wore your smudged morning bindi
As a mark of pride.
With every smile
You draped at dawn,
You drained those tears
That fought to fight back.
Every night was yours to claim
When the evening conch reached out to every earlobe
But none could hear
Your silent denials
Or bear with your clarion
Of denied bosoms
And defied eyeliners.
The night never needs a reclaim,
Once you know
Those red petals on your bed
Are not to intoxicate,
Rather strewn to hide blood
That fornicates.
The night retains what it always was.
Beyond the horizons of violated truths
And fearful parleys,
It always demanded an identity
That rides on patriarchy
Like a knight at war.
The night eloped with you
Like Lochinvar.
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Bio:
Aritrik has completed his M.A. and
M.Phil. in English from the University of Calcutta and has pursued B.A. (Hons)
in English from Scottish Church College. He has been inking verses and stories
and has published his papers and articles in manifold books and journals
including Tales to Tell – Romance (Published by Bee Books and Oxford), Cologne
of Heritage and Rise of Eternity published by The Opus Coliseum.
He has translated an essay on Digital
Humanities into Bengali for the book Lekhalikhir Pathshala published by
Gangcheel Publishers, a story titled “Adaab” published in the Dalit
Protest Unbridled Two Dozen Plays of Raju Das published by Ekush Shatak and “Kusum Manjarir
Khonje” for The Antonym Magazine. His foray into High School Academia
includes two compilations on Self-Study books of Prose and Poetry based on ICSE
and ISC syllabus 2018 published by CBD Books. His recent publications include a
book titled: From Bacon to Blog and Speak and Write Right by Avenel
Press which is based on Corporate Communication skills and Business Writing
Skills. He has also published a collection of poems titled Prohor Bhanga Prohori
published by Wishlist Publications. He takes keen interest in events like
elocution, extempore, debate, declamation and other events related to the communication
and literary spheres and has won several accolades in elocution, debate and
drama during his academic career.
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