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

The grief is overpowering
For it consumes me completely
The undamable, untameable sorrow
Burning my insides incessantly

Words do not bring solace
Condolences pierce my core
Perhaps on the verge of lunacy
And who knows, very much more

The hurricane raging in my head
Shows no calming signs
Totally devastated by my misery
I begin to lose track of time

Finally at the breaking point
My eyes well up with tears
Washing away all my woes, and
Calming my distraught nerves

Cry your heart out, I say to myself
Let it stream forth in gushes
For when the rains finally arrive
The tempest eventually abates

Subir Chakraborty / 28th March 2018

Rooted in human consciousness
The idea of god gradually evolved
Initially as a shield against insecurities
Around which their lives revolved

One god was not enough
To offer complete protection
So, many more sprung forth
Fostering multiple dimensions

Then emanated the philosophy
From the greats, soft and sublime
The result of intense contemplation
On the spiritual self and the divine

Somewhere down the road
Ripples gave way to a stir
When humans began to forget
That he was a mere metaphor

When denizens with an overdose
Started to take him literally
The aura appeared to wane
And the sublimeness gradually

Unable to deal with uncertainty
They took hold of their gods
Pitching one against the other
As religions emerged at odds

Till the metaphor metamorphosed
Into an obnoxious omen
Leaving malodour and pungency
In the minds of men

Subir Chakraborty / 26th October 2018

कैसा लगता है होली के एक दिन बाद
जब सब रंग उतर जाता है
जब अपना चेहरा फिर से दिखने लगता है
जब अपना प्रतिबिंब आइने के उस पार से
कुछ सवाल खड़ा करता है

इस प्यार और भाईचारे के त्योहार को
क्यों हम एक दिन तक ही सीमित रखें
क्यों भाईचारा जताने के लिए
रंग का सहारा लेना पड़े
चेहरे को छुपाना पड़े

क्या प्यार बाँटने के लिए
चेहरा छुपाना ज़रूरी है
क्या भाई से गले लगाने के लिए
रंग से लिपटना ज़रूरी है
क्या ख़ुद को ना पहचानना ज़रूरी है

पता नहीं क्या सही है और क्या नासही
पर इतना ज़रूर जानता हूँ
चेहरे पे रंग रहे या न रहे
एक दिन आगे हो या पीछे
हर दिन मेरे लिए होली ही है

सुबीर चक्रवर्ती / २१ मार्च २०१९

A riot of myriad colours
Red, blue, yellow, green
Adds spring to my gait
Accentuating my sheen

When joy strikes the heart
In absolute gay abandon
Colours must accompany
Without any condition

Where do I locate my palette
At every nook and corner
Where do I find my canvas
To splurge my colour

My search takes me inside
To my throbbing heart strings
And the truth dawns on me
Making a new beginning

Displaying a bright rainbow
All seven hues in line
Colouring the obstinate edges
Of my skeptical mind

Making me ultimately realise
That the colours in entirety
Reside silently within me
Cloaked in rare beauty

I only have to seek it
In the depths of my mind
To soothe and be soothed
By nature sublime

Subir Chakraborty / 6th June 2018

When life began to ebb
And death was finally born
When the silent screech
Pierced the sky at dawn

When the two end points
Ultimately gained salience
When permanence faded
To yield ground to transience

When creation began to flow
Through this journey called life
When humans began to evolve
One small step at a time

It was at that point
That a sense of philosophy emerged
It was at that juncture
Contemplation became an urge

It was at that point
That homo sapiens became aware
Of the cyclicality of existence
Of birth and death beyond compare

It was at that point
That nature appeared boundless
Where homo sapiens may be limited
But their spirit truly limitless

Subir Chakraborty / 23rd Sept 2018

We undertake, we exploit
We extract from this earth
Its waters, its minerals, treasures
What do we give back
Do we ever ponder

Does the earth belong to us
Or do we belong to this earth
The sun, the moon, the stars
The galaxies
The entire universe

We buy and own lands
But can we ever own
The sweetness of this earth
The gurgling of the streams
The singing of the birds

The air which we breathe
The freshness of the leaves
The fragrance of the flowers
The liberation of dawn
The solitude of dusk

What right do we have then
To debase and to defile
What we do not own
What we have inherited as legacy
With only temporary tenancy

Do we ever pause
Do we ever contemplate
What we shall be leaving behind
For the next generation to savour
And to ponder

Subir Chakraborty / 19th Oct 2018