Poems by Prajit Jana

The Human Frame

 

A spark
Doused by a few drops of water
A straw
Burnt to ashes by the tiniest flame 
A bubble
Blown to pieces by a gentle breeze
A flicker
Vanishes in a flash into thin air 
A human body 
Not even a moment 
In the universe of time...

As if you were in a hurry... 
You wanted to go to the
Land of nowhere-ness... 
Who doesn't? 
But you went a little early. As if
You were in a tearing hurry. Not that someone 
Really waited for you over there.. 
Then? Why did you go? 
Removing the taste of cilantro from 
Half-burnt Litti, one day
Rambharosia walks away all alone 
The wild fragrance of chhatim flows in 
From the other side of the purple lake... 
Riding the wings of the evening breeze 
And for a moment 
He also feels 
The land of nowhere-ness 
Is not so far away... 

The ageless jetty... 
One day, we shall visit the old jetty Abinash. Even if the boats are not there any more 
The old river banks must still be silently dozing
On both sides of the stream... 
And Rikhia's jetty..... Worn out
Dilapidated. Abandoned.... 
 
Is Rikhia still around
Coming out from the bottom of 
The dark water? And diving back deep down
Into the stillness of the river!
Does she sometimes also walk up and down  
Alone, on that old bamboo footbridge! 
One must not see Rikhia, they say. Never. 
Whoever has seen her has gone blind.
Let it be Abinash. I want to see Rikhia 
One last time.
Let me go blind. One last time 
I want to see her....and go blind once and for all. 
But no one has seen Rikhia so far. No one. Perhaps she does not want anyone to see her!
She does not want anyone to get blind for her Does she regret? Does she want a new
mystery! 
And then, so many days have passed by ... 
No boat in the jetty any more 
The boatman is also long gone … 
But still we have to go there 
one day. Arrive in our oversized shirt… 
We have to. Some day. Some other day.... 
What you say? Abinash! Are you listening!