Rajashree’s poem dwells on love’s fading warmth, leaving a restless heart yearning for freedom, exclusively for Different Truths.

Between the dates of the month
or the days in the calendar
On the wheels of time, I dared to walk without fear
Neither I questioned nor I cared to know

In my busy moments or in dark, lonely days
The oars of hope move back and forth,
sways at par with the cadence of your call
To all your dismaying attitude, I aimlessly bow

I hope you remove the illusion awhile
And stop sailing it away with ungentle wind
Now, the birds of the morning don't not even sing
Making me restless, with my heart acutely throbbing.

It makes me feel
I have no option to play
And better, I will wipe you from memory for good
I opt to say

Believe me,
A dew washed autumn is lost in a mangrove in tangles
As the gaiety of love is silent in your lip lock shackles

Wish that spread wings and flutter in the wind

Beyond my eyes, swing
And these illusions kept behind the screen
In the silence of dusk, ever cheering.

Picture design Anumita Roy

Rajashree Mohapatra

Rajashree Mohapatra, born in Odisha, has received her master’s degree in ‘History’, and ‘Journalism and Mass Communications’ from Utkal University. She is a teacher by profession. Being a postgraduate in ‘Environmental Education and Industrial Waste Management’ from Sambalpur University, she has devoted herself as a social activist to the cause of social justice, environmental issues, and human rights in remote areas through non-governmental organisations. Poetry, painting, and journalism are her passions.