Confinement Poem by Pradip Chattopadhyay

Moonlight washed me in its white crane wing
And she didn’t know I was far away
Quietly leaving her door!

Each glistening grain spoke her pain
Cajoling me to go back to her warmth
And not court the windswept shore!

How would they know I was not there seeking love
But dig deep the earthen night
Find something more!

Something more than love
More treasurable more eternal
Waiting to be discovered in that lunar carnival!

The sea knew the secret
But the waves wouldn’t return
What’s destined as a lover’s fate!

As the night waned in hush
Dimmed the moonshine
Slowed the wind’s rush

I stood on her door
Begged her
And she took me in her warmth

She knew

I couldn’t be far!