A Little Brother Is Precious

Regal, the prince of the home,

Kind with dogs, cats, even snakes,

But for cranky girls a face stone cold.

Glued feet to balls, and sticky fingers

For technology and an astute knowledge 

Of everything to do with biology.

A responsible drooping shoulder,

Many worries and several plans,

Keeping expectations lower

But no dreams to be panned.

Girls come, girls they go, seeking

Starlight in their eyes, a doting 

Handsome youth to grow old,

Always cooking with special plans.

Bathing twenty times a day,

Sweating hundred and fifty.

Live as long as the drops of sweat you sweat

And as sweet and loving as in my dreams. 

The Decisive Man

 Sure like  a needle

Sewed to tie a button,

Intricate, definite,

A real binding force.

Tough like glue

The kind that

Soap can't remove

Sticking to the point,

Never deviating from the course.

Tough advice borne of wisdom

From errors that were suffered,

Decisive action, always dependable,

But young and fresh as if just

Out of a rabbit hole.

Prepared to face the worst,

But always a Santa with goodies,

A will, many dreams, weaved

Through sleepless nights

Of blissful pondering

And tough meandering

Through streets; sometimes

Worried, sometimes carried

Away with the tide,

But like a rock: solid

And glittering like gold.

The Scent of A Woman

 Pickled carrots

And turmeric,

The musty smell of curd

And fresh jam,

The whistle of the pressure cooker

And sometimes bread with ham.

The rice, each grain is precious,

Sieved through a rusty ring with holes,

Hot by the fire, sweltering,

Feeding hot macher jhol.

The hands are wrinkled

Pink, the lines are clear and deep

Just as is fate knitting sewing

With one hand to feed the geese.

My Old Denims

 It was given to me

Two decades ago

And I've clearly 

Outgrown it,

My belly hanging,

Love handles bulging,

Skin sagging.

Two decades ago

But I still smell it:

My old denims.

Like love on a hot Summer's Day

 It comes suddenly

Like a crow at your window sill

Rising in your face

Heart thumping,

Blood Pumping,

Time stumping,

Just a grain of sand

Invisible in your hand;

It comes like love

On a hot Summer's Day

With a crow at your window sill

Rising in your face;

And then you shut the window

To it because it came suddenly

Like love on a hot Summer's Day.

new year 2022

It's that time of the year again

And as you nest in your crib

Remember the season stands for hope, 

For courage and for washing off all pain. 

As the sun sets early this time of the year

Bring out your sparkly lights to brighten twilight

And regale in a new determination that it may

Snow love and rain blessings this year and again

Next year; As you make your resolutions

I gift you this prayer I wrote: To carry forward the good, 

Rejoice in small victories and large ones

And resurrect yourself with hope. 

Merry Christmas and a happy new year! 

The Sengupta family

Dreams

 I have dreams, several of them,

And I've rarely been satisfied

Unless I'm having fun, You know

The kind where imagination

Blazes trails and work is rising

Songs and canderous banter;

I plant seeds in the soil of my mind,

Watering and nurturing my dreams:

Oh so many of them and they tangle

As they sprout directionless, such is

The way of trees and I love it for

The straighter the more uprooted;

Blazing towards the sun, A forest

Of many greens of all that I would seem.

Have you noticed that the moment

You employ patience and water

Nonetheless the soil, the sprout 

Sprouts out? Patience and acceptance,

A through testing of the soil

Is the way of plants and dreams. 

Veins through dark skin

 You looked cold sitting across me,

Quivering shivering and praising,

Your veins throbbing through your 

Dark skin, you seemed old sitting across me

Yet you regaled me with tales,

Clearly interested, clearly becoming,

Clearly not taking no for an answer.

It wasn't like you were selling me insurance,

Well of the future may be and I played along,

Stringing word into word, Melody into melody,

Creating symphony with hope you would

Give me a chance to be showered with praises.

You sat there hoping I would give you a chance

To have the last dance, but that's reserved only for

My old man: The true gold with throbbing veins

Through dark skin: And so our night ended and

Day began.

Posthumous award

 You were posthumously awarded

And I shuddered in my seat;

What if you were here; you are bedded

Tied in the hospital reed.

You haven't gone but you 

Could as well have been,

I rise to collect your reward

For all your deeds, as a lover

And a friend: I will sing to you

In the hospital. But what if

Your heart stops now? It has.

Like I said you were posthumously awarded.