চলতে চলতে দেখা হলে
সেই পুরোনো প্রশ্ন ভেসে আসে কানে
‘কেমন আছেন? ভালো আছেন তো?’
অভ‍্যাসের বশে একটাই উত্তর বেরোয় মুখ থেকে
‘এই চলে যাচ্ছে, আর কি’

কিন্তু সত‍্যি কি চলে যাচ্ছে আমার জীবন
না কি আঁকা বাঁকা পথে চলছে
একটু ঘুরপাকে, একটু পাস কাটিয়ে
কিছুটা মিথ‍্যে বলে, কিছুটা নিয়ম ভেঙ্গে
কিছুটা লড়াই করে, কিছুটা গা বাঁচিয়ে
কিছুটা সন্ধি করে
অনেকটাই, আপোস করে

মাসের প্রথমে টাকার গরমে গা ভাসিয়ে
মাসের শেষে খুচরো গুলো আঁকড়ে ধরে
কোনো কোনোদিন অভিমানের বোঝা বয়ে
আবার কোনোদিন উৎফুল্লতার আভাস নিয়ে
যুদ্ধ করে জীবন যাত্রা চালিয়ে নিয়ে
যুদ্ধের শেষে আশার আলো দেখব বলে
অনেকটাই, শুধু বাঁচব বলে

কিন্তু এতগুলো কথা বোঝাই কি করে?
বাজারের থলে নিয়ে, পথ চলতে চলতে?
তাই এক কথায় কাজ সারি
এই চলে যাচ্ছে, আর কি

সুবীর চক্রবর্তী
২৯ ডিসেম্বর ২০২৪

কথা তো হয়েছে কতই
কিন্তু দেখা যে হয়নি কখনও
মনে হয়েছে অনেকবার
গিয়ে দেখা করি
কিন্ত যাওয়া হয়ে ওঠেনি

দেখা হলে কি বলবো
পরস্পরের পাসে বসে কি কথা হবে
তাও নিজের মনে আওড়েছি কতবার
কিন্ত যাওয়া হয়ে ওঠেনি

অনেকবার মনে মনে ভেবেছি
যে পথ চলতে চলতে কোনদিন
হয়ত হঠাৎ দেখা হয়ে যাবে
কিন্তু তাও হয়নি

কেন এরকমটা হলো, জানি না
তুমি কি শুধুই কল্পনা
জানি না
আমার একাকীত্বের চিরসাথী
তুমি কি শুধুই আমার মনের ভ্রম

কিছুই আর জানি না
শুধু এটুকুই জানি
যে যাওয়া হয়ে ওঠেনি

সুবীর চক্রবর্তী
২৫ ডিসেম্বর ২০২৪

Coming back is not easy
Has never been easy
Whether to a place of your childhood cradling a tumultuous past
Or even an aching thought for a long lost loved one
Cause memories stand frozen in the sands of time
While the world keeps moving at its own pace
To a point where the reality does not match
With the bits and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle
Continuously playing hide and seek in your head
Cause memories are your very own – cherished and treasured
Swimming in waves of surrealistic fervour
While realism ebbs and flows with the tides of time

Subir Chakraborty
14th Dec 2024

The view from the veranda touches my core
The lawn, a deep verdant green
Welcoming the butterflies and the bees
Offering them unhindered access to nature’s bounty.
A rare stillness pervades the air
Stillness, which is vibrant and alive
An intermittent zephyr kissing the leaves
Awakening them from their slumber
On this lazy winter afternoon.
The chairs and tables lie in a state of disorganisation
Not sure of when the first guest shall arrive
Not sure if they want anyone to arrive at all.
The world is at peace
No conflicts, no stresses, no cacophony
Just mere existence in all its splendour
All its divine beauty
Gently touching my soul.

Subir Chakraborty
18th Nov 2024

The fabric of loss extends
Beyond boundaries
Beyond global fissures and conflicts
To inflict untold miseries on humanity
A satanic gossamer springing to life
Spreading far and wide
Sowing the seeds of hatred and violence
Entrenching the belief that one can live
Only through the elimination of the other
That to destroy and annihilate
Is to create a world order
Of one idea, one view, oneupmanship
Where the numerals two, three, four
Do not quite exist
And where the word ‘diversity’ sounds alien

A desperate effort to straitjacket the human species
Along a uniform assembly line
Denying and defying all natural laws of evolution
Of variety, of richness, of growth
An effort going against the very grain of civilisation
And so destined to fail in the long run
While one patiently waits for not one
But multiple messiahs
To impart humaneness to humanity
To deliver our race from the present state of helplessness, anguish and chaos

Subir Chakraborty
13th Oct 2024

The soft erotic whispers
Falling on indifferent, deaf ears
The re-creation of sweet memories
Marred by the juxtaposition of non-feelings
The yearning for longing
Countered by the ferocity of rejection

Where words are no longer sweet utterances
Of sweet nothings
But long lost bitterness trying to be heard
Life sapping, heart wrenching, mind twisting
Never satiated, never ending
Ever hurting, ever inflexible
Ever ready to inflict the violence of love

Subir Chakraborty
7th July 2024

‘Best of friends’ is like a huge landscape
Where the desire to belong
Is not devoid of disagreements
Where the longing is laced
With the freedom to be unique
Where the meetings are not merely meet-and-greet sessions
But a platform for exchange of ideas
Of common interest
Or even a new one looming over the horizon
Where there is genuine regard and respect
For what one stands for
Where mirth and laughter are interspersed with concern for each other’s well being
Where the past and the present mingle together in sweet harmony
And where the discarding of all inhibitions
Leads to true unburdening of the soul

Subir Chakraborty
26th May 2024

The childhood I clung to
Slipped out of my grasp
Ever so slowly
Surreptitiously
The contours of my face
Changed gradually
To a more determined me
More assured, confident
Ready to take on the world
And yet that began to change again
Almost as if predestined, preordained
Old age began to creep in
Receding hairline
A niggle
First here
Then there
And then everywhere
Slowing of pace
Faltering memory
Reminiscing constantly
About long lost days of fun and frolic
Looking back through the lens of time
Heart aflutter with nostalgia
I examine my palm closely
And notice the holes I had never seen
Through which all those moments
Had slipped away
One by one
Without the faintest of an adieu
And I gently whisper to myself
This too shall pass…..

Subir Chakraborty
1st May 2024

When the sky within me
Reaches out to the horizon dawning in your infinitude
When the fire raging within me
Seeks to be quenched with the sweet nectar of your tenderness
When the torrents flowing through my heart
Desire refuge in the ocean of your compassion
When my tribulations and doubts
Are laid to rest in the comfort of your being
I know I have not fallen but risen in love
I know that divinity waits patiently
To welcome me in its midst
At a time when I am ready
To drop off all worldly illusions
And be one with the ultimate reality

Subir Chakraborty
31st Dec 2023

I leave bits and pieces of me
Wherever I go
A little something of this
And that
My thoughts
Scattered here and there
My laughter
Rebounding from the roof
Embedded as echo on the walls
The gentle zephyr
Which caressed my long lost feelings
And left me alone in my day dream
A window through which my sight meandered
Into the faraway hills
Never to return
My mind
Which got captivated by a beatific smile
To remain enchanted forever
My soul which carved its signature
With the ink of sweet melody
On to the fabric of this charming place

Subir Chakraborty
10th Dec 2023