Three poems

Continuities

Another sharp edge
Around the mountain
A blind turn,

Should I pause, look out?
Or rush through, and
Risk dropping
into the deep valley,
lose my life?

But I know
Around the corner
As I cross the border
Between here and there
I’ll fly
Over the horizon
Join my ancestors
In the milky way

A thieving kite
Will swoop down
Pick the carcass
and feed her babies.

Expression

Do you feel
The warp and weft
Of dialogue
Getting denser, quieter
on its own
with time moving on

Always beginning
Never ending

Mourning

Not a tear fell
From the old woman’s eye
As she witnessed her
Dwelling set ablaze

No tear
Even while
Gazing at her hearth
Tossing crackling sounds
Crumbled in flames

Yesterday
Pixie her cat was
Run over
A mere squeak
under the giant wheels

Blue rivers dried and
Desert sands filled
All nooks and corners
of her eyes…

Sukrita Paul Kumar A well-known poet and critic, Sukrita Paul Kumar (born in Kenya) was an invited poet and Fellow at the prestigious International Writing Programme, Iowa, USA. Former Fellow of IIAS (Shimla), and honorary faculty at Durrell Centre at Corfu, Greece, she has published several collections of poetry, translations, critical works and has held exhibitions of her paintings. She held the Aruna Asaf Ali Chair at the University of Delhi.