Contemporary Literary Review India | eISSN 2394-6075 | Vol 2 No 1: CLRI February 2015

Poems by Shobhana Kumar

frames

I have none.

Of those mundane moments

Caught unawares—

Smiles, tears, anger, love,

The nakedness of longing

Birthday candles

Anniversary wines

Laughter, hugs,

Reunions and goodbyes

Of friends, long dead,

Acquaintances, faded

Or those anonymous passers-by

Flashes of solitude,

Trophy smiles,

Picture-perfect frames,

Or of long, lone miles.

Even those of

Seconds when

I watched

Life slither from me,

Or a much-loved breath,

Vanish, slowly.

I have none

In black and white,

Sepia or technicolour.

But they come alive

In my mind’s eye,

Making my real life

A dream,

Turning dreams,

To real.

square feet

one day,

they were gone,

leaving weeping stumps,

their raw edges, gaping

in the bare sun.

around them lay scattered,

leaves, dying

twigs,

weeds plucked

and piled

in cruel heaps

for the poor to take

their fuel from.

the old farmer walked up

and thrust into my hand,

a bag of coconuts,

fresh from the last harvest.

we watched,

mute,

as bull dozers arrived,

to level the soil

and measure

cents for sale.

how many coconuts

could have grown

in one square

feet of luxury living?

Shobhana Kumar’s first volume of poetry, ‘The Voices Never Stop,’ was published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta in 2012. Her work has featured in ‘The Dance of the Peacock—An Anthology of English Poetry from India’ edited by Dr. Vivekanand Jha and will appear in a forthcoming anthology of contemporary women's writing from India. Her work has also appeared or is forthcoming in several other journals in India, USA, Canada and the UK. Origami Poems Project 'has recently published her first micro-chap book, 'It's winter after spring.' She has authored five books of non-fiction. Her short stories are featured in New Asian Writing and will be part of the 2013 anthology. Her second volume of poetry, '*Conditions Apply' will be published by Writers Workshop in 2014.

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