I tiptoe silently into the room
While you lie asleep
Afraid to wake you up
Anxious not to disturb the melody of your dream

For I know when you are dreaming about me
For your dreams whisper to me
Softly, sweetly, divulging your secrets, one at a time
Like dew drops falling from a love laden leaf

And when my heart is fully drenched
With your dreamy nectar
I glance sideways and see your face
Trying to catch a hint of a smile

For I know that you know as well
Of my secret door to your heart strings
Which gently strum my name
With the rhythm of your dreams

Subir Chakraborty / 1st Dec 2018

Oh man!
What are you capable of
Oh man!
What dreams you dream of

Do you dream of an equitable world
Do you dream of heaven
Or do you lust after exploitative butchery
In your very own den

Do you yearn for your free spirit
To soar up in the sky
Or do you want to cower, afraid
To even give it a try

Do you think you can exist
While others continue to perish
Or do you want to co-exist
Where all can prosper and flourish

Do you want to continue to pollute
Till the earth loses its fight
Or do you want to see nature
Gurgle with childish delight

Do you desire the end of civilisation
With a worldwide nuclear war
Or do you desire love and tolerance
Making friendships last forever

Oh man!
Of the species designed to be the wisest
Oh man!
What makes you act out the stupidest

Oh man!
Are you following the path to extinction
Oh man!
Is your DNA encrypted with self-destruction

Subir Chakraborty / 3rd Sept 2018

What must a new year mean
To humans striving to cope
Inhabiting this unique planet
Buoyed by the winds of hope

For the rich and the super affluent
It is wish for the balance in the bank
To grow relentlessly through the year
And help to increase their rank

For those incorrigible politicians
It is the search for spoils of power
Through the bullet or the ballot
Whatever answers their prayer

For the young and the trendy
Wishing for the new year
To go by without any bother
And without a morsel of care

For the destitute on the streets
It is the hope of a meal a day
Which fills their listless eyes
As they look up to the sky to pray

For you and me and others like us
It may be just health and happiness
And some camaraderie and brotherhood
To celebrate in a spirit of oneness

Subir Chakraborty / 1st Jan 2019

Life is not about how well you plan
But how well you cope
To events which arrive unannounced
Without throwing you a rope

You may feel
You have planned it all
The master blueprint in finest detail
And alternate ones to fall back on

And suddenly, out of the blue
A calamity might hit you
Turning your life topsy-turvy
Forcing you to start anew

When all that you have planned
Lies tattered on the shore
For the assumptions you’ve made
Do not hold water anymore

How you respond then
Will determine who you are
A man standing tall
Or a weakling below par

These jolts, not curses but blessings
From nature enveloping you
To help you to evolve your character
And lace it with the freshness of dew

Subir Chakraborty / 30th Aug 2018

Will it be possible one day
For the world order of today
To abandon the downhill bay
And course correct midway

Will it be possible one day
When the green shoots of creation
Shall not recoil with trepidation
At the noxious fumes and pollution

Will it be possible one day
For the rivers and the oceans
To gurgle in sheer merriment
Without the load of the remains

Will it be possible one day
For the common bond of humanity
To encapsulate all religions
For permanent peace and tranquility

Will it be possible one day
To institute a new political process
Where genuine causes are redressed
And the wayward brought under duress

Will it be possible one day
When all surplus food wasted
Reach the needy and the hungry
And the ones truly dispossessed

Will it be possible one day
When the infirm and the aged
Are not left to rot on the streets
To wait for the mercy of death

Will it be possible one day
For humans to surrender to the natural
And seek wholesome happiness
In preference to just being material

Subir Chakraborty / 1st Aug 2018

The space that you occupy in my heart
Does not have any physical dimensions
For physicality denotes boundaries
Borders bespeak of limitations

You have seeped into my heart
Drop by drop, through the aeons
Since the beginning of time
Since the creation of destiny

Redolent with the fragrance of your love
My heart skips a beat
Repeatedly, every now and then
Just to utter your name

Free of all frontiers
Your presence assumes a life of its own
Within my mind and body
Fluttering freely on your wings of passion

Turning every corner of my being
Intoxicated, inebriated, deluged
With your sweet nectar
Celebrating every moment in sheer ecstasy

Subir Chakraborty / 10th Dec 2018

The bindi* the nose ring, the pallu**
Defines her identity
Or the strings of covered women
Bound through eternity

Walking through centuries
With a male for a crutch
A father, a husband or a son
Or any related by birth

Where the cloth on her head
Is a sign she needs to wear
To constantly remind herself
That she is inferior

Where she has to walk
A few paces behind
Where her screams are stifled
By the cover which binds

Where her agonies lie hidden
In miles of drapes
Along with her ambition
And all she craves

Representing the female form
Often a symbol of worship
While in day–to–day life
Frequently torn to bits

An unequal game
Right from the start
Where one half is deprived
From playing their part

An unequal ledger, where
Women appear as debit
And men with only half the load
Often claim all the credit

**Pallu – the end of a saree / scarf, which Indian women use to cover their head

*Bindi – the red dot, Indian women often wear on their forehead

Subir Chakraborty / 4th Sept 2018

Your claim on me is infinite
Which I gladly accept
Yet my claim on you
May be questioned by the rest

For there are others to share you with
Your father for instance
Or your husband or boyfriend
Or your countless friends

What I would give
To return to those days just for once
If not for real, then in my make believe world
Taking me back to my trance

When everyone else was busy
And you clung on to me
Finding shelter and comfort
My arms ever extended to thee

That was a time
When the pleasure was all mine
To give myself totally
To that feeling sublime

This joy of surrender
Can never ever be equalled
With anything I have ever received
From anyone in this world

Subir Chakraborty / 22nd May 2018

The myths implanted in our DNA
Over centuries spanning generations
Find their way into our consciousness
Involuntarily through our traditions

Do we ever question or realise
A specific rule or behaviour
As to why we follow blindly
Thinking it has existed forever

Some of these have got encoded
As a norm for civilised behaviour
While some ‘do nots’ discarded
With the label of ‘never ever’

Why is the wedding gown white
Why is black the symbol of death
Why do we tinkle glasses
Why do we bury the dead

Why in some other cultures
The reverse may be true
While they cremate the dead
And white the mark of widowhood

Neighbours have fought
And nations have gone to war
Over myths etched on stone
Garnishing our mental decor

Do we need to rethink
Perhaps draw new boundaries
Of the tales which have governed our lives
Right through the centuries

Subir Chakraborty / 17th Oct 2018

The past has a smell
Somewhere distant in the horizon
Floating in gently, nostalgically
Through the long lost years

The smell reminds me of my childhood
The sweat, the grime, the fights
The exhilaration, the sadness, the madness
The make-up minutes, hours, days

The smell lingers dramatically
Mysteriously
Playing hide and seek with my mind
Wafting through the senses

Bringing back sudden shafts of memories
Like lightning
Striking my ageing grey cells
Randomly, without any design or decorum

Making it all very real
Making me wanting to reach out
Only to realise the thin air
The continuum, the vacuum

But that vacuum has an existence
A reality seemingly near
A reality fused in my mind
A reality I hold very dear

Subir Chakraborty / 13th Aug 2018