Die-hard
‘If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O, why lament its fall?’
Charlotte Bronte
In the chaos ensuing all around,
These lines of Bronte
Bring a little
Relief!
Indeed, if the darkness makes us see light,
Shouldn't we bear up well?
The world thunders along, in denial of
Promises, rights and liberties
In its reversal of
Language,
Lie threadbare all egalitarian notions!
(Is it hell bent on setting the stage
For Frankenstein?)
Cold-hearted, witty Mephistopheles
Of course, takes centre-stage
Lending voice to impeccably turned-out imps,
In this darkest of satires.
It's for real though,
Blurring edges with
Dystopia
Burning hell fires through cosy living rooms
Songs still playing in the hollows,
Garfunkle in other tongues
Mauled,
Memories in
Lingering echoes...
O world, where to from here?
Where do you want to go?
In worlds within worlds, within worlds
Of a very real but singular earth,
Twisted upturned notions
Now rule.
There's no escaping the shrouds of
Inhuman haze
To obfuscate everything,
O', Earth, I walk with you,
In your hour of shell-shocked
Grief.
Through the pain surely there'll be an awakening?
Smeetha Bhoumik, winner of the 2023 Reuel International Award for Poetry, is a poet, artist and editor. She is founding editor -Yugen Quest Review (2021) and founder –WE Literary Community (2016). Her poems feature in national and international journals and anthologies. Her poetry has flown to the moon as part of the Polaris Trilogy in the Lunar Codex; thus aligning her early Universe Series artwork with her poetry in beauteous synchronicity! Her work featured at the Panorama International Literature Festival, 2024. Her sestina 'Tiara of Gleaming Peaks, Our Talisman', features in The Mountain Was Abuzz, an anthology edited by the exceptional mountaineer, author, former air force officer Toolika Rani.
