THUMBPRINTNE POETRY COLUMN
POETRY EDITOR ANANYA S GUHA'S NOTE:
Arunav Barua’s poems explore themes such as love and injustice. The poems tend to end with scepticism. There are satirical undertones too, making resolution a complex matter. The poems trace a primordial and complex history of existence
------------
THE QUESTION
I asked myself in truth, a question
The answer arrived, somewhere a lesson
That life begins but ends at a time
Uncalled for but the answer in chime...!
I asked you to wait, you had to go
Tell me that I was wrong, absence show...
There you had your hand given out
I held the line, I gave it a good shout
Unless your trials are mine too, in truth
I can tell you so much, I think I should!
Let us try and bring to life, this moment
Where in truth, it shows that love is sent...
By words alone, with eyes that are true
Was it that bird I caught? The one that flew...?
-----------
THE ART OF SILENCE
Stronger than the force of movement
That which lies still, immersed in thought
But wanton the journey, the moment is
Acceptance of the self, feeling oneness...
Tranquil waters invite pebbles thrown
Which destroys the perfect reflection
For the self is best seen in still waters
Let me contemplate upon existence...
Is it just living, or is it the journey within?
The answer might lead to realisation
Such that, I need none other, but then
The possibility wavers when it is you...
For in you I find a sense of completion
Not because we are alike, but here...
----------
TWO SIDES OF THE COIN
On the face of it, everything is benign
But let me warn you; it is just a sign
Of the hypocrisy and crazy idolatry
Making the honest, hardworking pay
While, it's tough to make it through the day...
As price rise is a norm that's been accepted
We gave up a long time ago, no education needed
Was the first strike, while the cunning play
With people and honesty, with lies, their day!
Give us respite, tell us that this a nightmare
From which we will wake up, but we shouldn't dare...!
(***a little disappointed with world tidings everywhere)
---------------
THE SHADOW STORY
Let me come to an understanding,
You are, but a part of me, in a sense
Which distributes attitude to tasks
Given by time, in the feature of light
You say you are not, but I disagree
For you have been there, forever...
I take a moment to rethink reality
I see that I cannot express myself
Without a reference to your touch...
The hands I cuddled, that moment real
Can I touch your heart? In reality?
Where your essence is all that I feel?
Give me an answer in riddles true
Brought by time, into reality here, now...
(***Reliving a moment with you, unknown to you, but there)
-----------------
IN ABSENTIA...
Memory, a waft of fresh air, distant...
Come closer to reality, not seen
Felt by the moment, in itself complete
When the birds tweet agreement...
It starts with a face, sometimes a shroud
Put on to hazy, unclear moments, smoke
That clears but burns a fire, in the heart
That tells you, someone, somewhere is...
Missing from the frame of reality, here-now
Give me a pen, let me jot down words
That might bring you back from oblivion...
Sadness, or something akin to grief
Might be the key...
For, you are missing!
(***A day in the life of being without...)
------------
WHEN I SAW YOU
It was a chance sight, I saw you
Thinking that moments pass, in time
But time is an element not defined
Because the fourth dimension visits
Only when a moment stops time
Like when I saw you, after so long...
Let me say that I live for this moment
Which is like any other, but intense
Because it has you in the frame defined
By a word called familiarity, a presence
That makes me catch my breath, again
Let me bask in this sight, in this moment...
Tomorrow is a day I will spend in wait
For another sight, when I see you again...!
(***When I see you again)
-----------
PRIMITIVE
The days pass, hours spent in thought...
Thinking itself decreed by time, the past
Plays a role, as does a future uncertain
The present moment has escaped reality...
It takes moments to shift dimensions
From elation to abject depression, count
The joys as well as grief, a loss, remembered...
It once was ordained that all we have
Was the present, when living was difficult
Enough to let us live only in the present
Can we go back to being in the now/here?
Call me primitive but it had its own charm
For thoughts make me lose my present...
The gift!
(***were we better off as primitives?)
----------
ABOUT THE POET:
Arunav is an Assistant Professor at NERIM Group of Institutions in Guwahati. Born in Shillong, Meghalaya, Arunav spent his childhood exploring streams and reading books in between sojourns to the hills of Shillong. His love of books translated itself into five works of verse available in platforms like Amazon.com. Arunav completed his MBA in Marketing and also completed a Masters in Arts (M.A) in English. Arunav is a PhD from Assam Don Bosco University in Management. He has been teaching for over a decade and a half, in roles like a high school teacher to high school students teaching English, Spoken English to colloquial speakers of the language, motivational lectures and Communication to Management students in NERIM Group of Institutions for the past eight years. Arunav has been writing poems since childhood and his first poem; ‘Alexander’ was published in 1996 in ‘The Sentinel’. Arunav’s first book was published by Trafford Publishers, U.S.A titled; ‘A Rose By Any Other Name – A Collection of Thoughts in Verse’ in 2013. His second titled; ‘Build on A Dream – Another Collection of Poems in Verse’ was also published by Trafford in 2014. Rubric Publishers Delhi has published three of Arunav’s collections of verse. His poems have also been translated into Italian by Giorgio Moio, a renowned Italian publisher for the magazine; ‘Frequenze Poetiche’.
.jpg)
 (1).jpg)
