At times I have only myself to talk to
Not lonely, just joyously alone
With my own voice echoing softly
From the perimeters of silence

Which determine the boundaries
Of my self imposed solitude
Amidst a potpourri of city life, intermingled
With the ravages of daily existence

Sometimes I speak to my voice
Sometimes the voice speaks to me
When it rebounds, ecstatically fresh
From the far corners of my mind

The dialogue is refreshing
Soothingly vibrant in its hues
Peeling away layers of unreality
Dawning a touch of reality

Where my ambitions are rephrased
My disappointments revisited
My anxieties re-tempered
And my sanity re-established

Subir Chakraborty / 3rd May 2019

Am I alive
Am I really alive
Or am I being eaten up inside
With dead habits on the rise

Is my passion on a song
Is my heart feeling free
Do my senses sway gently
In tune with the springtime breeze

Does my laughter reverberate
Like a gushing waterfall
Do my tears silently tiptoe
When my mind is on a recall

Can I take a stand
For a just and righteous cause
Or do I always get paralysed
Forever hitting pause

Can I just be myself
Without the shroud of vanity
Can I burn all these myriad costumes
Which conceal my true identity

Subir Chakraborty / 23rd Nov 2018

Blares the loudspeaker
Hurling a slew of slogans
It’s election time folks
In our dear Motherland

The eyes are shedding tears
The heart is torn asunder
As the politicians hit the streets
With their palms joined together

Every manifesto is curated
For humans under the weather
Creativity knows no limits
In changing for the better

After the results are declared
Promises are quickly forgotten
For now it’s deal time folks
Requiring astute political acumen

For the man on the street
It is just so much of fun
Free entertainment, along with
Occasional doles for lunch

Subir Chakraborty / 14th May 2019

My journey towards wholesomeness
Is not without risks
For it comes with a growing sense of detachment
To the material life, which exists

Which is where I live and breathe
And participate each day
Treating it as ongoing drama
As a mere audience in a play

Where I laugh with all the highs
And cry with all the lows
Yet knowing only too well
That the show will take a bow

I notice the emotions of others
Of egos ballooning or lying in tatters
As the serenity of existence engulfs me
Together with all that really matters

I also notice my own ego
Gasping for its last breath
As wisdom energy seeps in
Unfolding its wholesome breadth

Subir Chakraborty / 20th Jan 2019

The revolution of the earth
The cyclicality of the seasons
The transience of existence
Brings home the lessons

We are bound to the cosmos
In truly remarkable ways
Tied to its tide and ebb
Moored to its divine plays

The universe known to man
Contains mostly empty spaces
Matter and all life forms
Follow with identical paces

It is at the darkest moment
Embroiled in the cosmic soup
That the Big Bang occurred
Illuminating the skies in a swoop

It is also in our gloomiest moments
Encapsulated in utter despair
That radiance seeps in to our hearts
In need of urgent repair

Similarities exist across the spectrum
In multitude ways and means
For we are all deeply connected
In our waking hours and in our dreams

Subir Chakraborty / 21st Oct 2018

My desire to see my being flesh
Anew, afresh
Free from the moorings of my mind
Unentangled, unenmeshed

When the unconscious shall peep into the conscious
Decisively, conclusively
Giving it a definite shape eventually
Ultimately

When reality shall emerge from the cocoon of surreality
Gradually
With herculean effort, in sweet pain
Ecstatically

When my urgings shall assume a life of their own
Flying on wings of euphoria
Unbounded, unbonded
Forever free

Subir Chakraborty / 5th March 2019

The moon-drunk rays caress your face
Imparting a surreal aura
Creating new interpretations
Of the fleeting zones of liminality

For the slightest of moves on your part
A half smile, a twitch of your lips
A hum in your voice
Or a flutter in your heart

Generates a new connotation of beauty
Which lasts but only for a brief moment
Before coalescing seamlessly
Into your incessant procession of varying moods

It seems, as if I know you this instant
Only to unknow you in the next
The mystery of a lifetime
For me to perpetually savour and keep

Is it the moon which fabricates this magic, or is it you
I shall never fathom
Wishing for it to remain fathomless
Everlastingly, enchantingly and forever

Subir Chakraborty / 24th April 2019

In the lounge
Out of the lounge
Waiting for a flight
Sitting tight

Sitting alone
Sitting together
Unknown faces
Busy by far

Looking at mobile
Staring at laptop
Barking instructions
Over the table top

Headphones on
Headphones off
Dying to hear
Desperate to talk

Surfing the net
Skimming the waves
The digital bytes
Sweeping the crest

Busybodies all
Humans second
Digitally programmed
Right to the end

Subir Chakraborty / 4th Sept 2018

When your heart feels hurt
And the mind is in a twirl
Where the ifs and the buts
Seem to twist and curl

When the heavens decide
To weave a trail so tragic
That your heart has forgotten
The art of healing magic

When picking up the pieces
Seems a woeful burden
When you feel like taking
All the secret potions

When leaning comes naturally
Without a thought or doubt
When all you want to do
Is loudly curse and pout

Detach yourself for once
Without the fluster or heat
And look down below
At your own two feet

For when all avenues close
And you are helplessly beat
It all really comes down to
Simply finding your feet

Subir Chakraborty / 21st May 2018

एक ज़माना ऐसा था
जब हम बिना कुछ सोचे
नल का पानी पीते थे
बेझिझक पिलाते भी थे

और अब ऐसा ज़माना आया है
जब हम पानी खरीदते हैं
हमेशा डर लगा रहता है
इन्फ़ेक्शन से डरते हैं

खुलकर साँस लेते वक़्त
दूषण का ख़याल आता है
फेफड़ों की हालत देखकर
ईश्वर भी रोता है

कहते हैं कि हम तरक्की कर रहें हैं
पर ये कैसी तरक्की
जो पानी में विष घोल दे
बदल दे हवा की परिचिति

ये कैसी तरक्की
जो प्रदूषण से पीड़ित होकर
लाए आँखों में आँसू
मिटा दे हमारी जीने की आरज़ू

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / ११ नवम्बर २०१८