GOPAL LAHIRI

GOPAL LAHIRI

Soul Searching

A few steps to climb and

the mellow sunlight frees us from grieving,

Everything echoes and fades away hastily,

You have to be within seeking a solution.

Cold winds come across from the distant sea,

If you have well spring love,

Hum it, carries with you wherever you go,

Hardly anyone will notice the islands of identity.

In the great silence of the surrounds,

The fullness of life roots us in joy and gratitude

Someone may come with great trust-

So very delicate words you listen.

Live everything from loneliness to the chaos,

Capture every shade of pain in your thoughts-

Take it upon yourself and peel the inner layers.

Where it can be found?

Your dreams have a life of their own,

You seek in every moment, every interval-

The innermost soul leads you the path to the answer.

Beyond Borders

Light, shadow and those clouds

Rolling over the peak lines,

Touch the first molecule of the mountain top!

Flames of night are gone but show

Different, on warm morning the slip zone,

In turn stir up the cold bones but no exit there.

You can paint and the black leave

That enters, stay folded and

The pale exertion goes unnoticed

The wide window and the

Fabric of the curtains,

B urned bricks reflect the burden of life!

Someone standing outside

Take you now far beyond

the blank walls of the borders!

Soft Light

It’s been approaching for a while

Shining and simmering

Reducing the frightening distance

still restless,

And I haven’t noticed.

Beginning to crack and split

The hardened wounds, pain and anguish

Disappear with a bold stroke of the brush

Bursting open the new seeds

Of the distant dream

Seems to be so automatic

As I look more at you

Slow at first but can’t hide the fresh shoots

The sprawling green valley

The rain on my long- dried roof.

Smiling in the soft light

Glistening still in silence

So soft, so soft his hands

Take me to the unfathomed heights

Now, I know more about myself.

GOPAL LAHIRI

GOPAL LAHIRI was born and grew up in Kolkata. He currently lives in Mumbai, India. He is a bilingual poet, writer, editor, critic and translator and widely published in Bengali and English language. He has had seven collections of poems in Bengali and eight collections of poems in English which includes four POD books published from Lulu Publications, USA. Anthology appearances (among others) include National Treasures, Indus Valley, The Silence within, Indo-Australian Anthology, Homebound, The Dance of the Peacock, Illuminations. His works have featured in printed journals like Indian Literature, Taj Mahal Review, Beyond the Rainbow, CLRI, and Haiku Journal and in electronic publications Arts and Letters, Underground Window, Muse India, Setu, Dead Snake, Tuck Magazine, Debug, Eastlit and Coldnoon Diaries. His translation works in Bengali Not Just Milk and Honey, (published by NBT, India), a collection of short stories of Israel is widely acclaimed. He has jointly edited the anthology of poems: Scaling Heights and is the recipient of the Poet of the year award in Destiny Poets, UK, 2016.