Beyond light
The corpses of Chobimura croon a time knot-
ted in crusty legacies.
In every full moon, these sagas dance to the
nocturnal symphonies
Love and all its masks shiver.
Shivers the rock of our times.
The body trembles in delirium at the labor of
love and poetry.
This body, lifeless. This disease, a dream-co-
coon.

The wandering orphans kneel down before
your shapeless stillness.
He knows love becomes religion when bodies
come crawling at you.
He listens to the quivering of birds at this jung-
le fest.
Every stone sings to the rhythm of toil.

What a stone cares about desires and hopes?
Of future and death?
He will be chiseled to an exalted harmony. His
grit will be carved to euphoria.
Every rock is bleeding tears.
One day there’s a rock slide.
Instantly they reflect rays of lights and love
Lights after lights,
Eyes after eyes....
Water cuddles playfully across teary eyes. Our
lives are wounds of love.
Only Gomati shrivels and stares.

Magfirat - the Forgiveness

I retreat inside the celestial mosque when my
insane spirit wakes up.
The heart bleeds motifs as it sails to the trans-
ience.
Haven’t I ached to lure you into the fragrance
of roses, in a marked totem, a spirit even….to
usher your beauty, infinite as I realize, I bow
before you.
I mummer all your names, all ninety-nine.
I caress, I adorn your enchanted names as I
place scarlet flowers on them.
Now I see the flames of desire turning to a
blossoming orchard. Lush and intoxicating.
I am the same-old, same-old bastard, hail to
the primitive ecstasy as I dive into the jungle.
How could any divine rapture pour sanity on
me?

Dialectics

How did you know -
I would keep standing for you?
Fear and sound alone
have such enchancing powers.
I would keep standing up from my downfall.
A lone man is crippled, afraid; You too know.
That the united are determined, adamant,
and that strength in people will rise always..
You have, though, found it pleasing to step on
my throat.
Across history, you’ve killed, thrown away my
people.
We are but proud for your innumerable crimes.
We’ve enjoyed walking on uncharted paths.
We’ve freed hope and love
Even in anger amidst crude brutality.
Still yet, we’ve smashed walls, we rose
Atop the highest of mountains
And rolled down to the oceans to bathe - as
rivers.

Betrayal

I never knew my desires.
I often take a dip below
White, red and blue hues,
And live in a bordering city.
I write some poetry, but
I have two wings too.

They fly me right opposite to betrayers.
True environment, Green birds, skin tones..
How things have changed in an age!
Amitabh Bachchan becomes
ambassador of commercial products,
So does Saurav Ganguly.
Betrayal! Betrayal!
The premier himself rolls out
Fake, empty promises.
How virile a banner could be!
How power can be corrupt and blinding!
How things have changed!
Hands of the leader-
Rolled out in facade of peace,
All the words of kinship
Inside and out of glory, and
All the sorrow of the world-
Nothing is indeed the way it was.
Humans still have hands and feet for work
And two wings.
They keep flying in packs
At the right sort of sound.

‍

‍

Akbar Ahmed is a Bengli poet from Tripura, India.