Mukul’s poem dwells on a descent into darkness, a purgative journey through fear, and a final, passionate resurrection into the light for Different Truths.

It’s a slit in a seal,
The wound in the curtain is stark,
The disfigured darkness looms macabre,
The silence sounds spectral.
It’s a losing battle,
The eyes are also giving in to the sun,
Wiping the smears from
My darkness is now beyond.
It was passionately concocted,
The purgative for the
phobias and phantoms,
trials and tribulations,
frets and fumes,
I exhaled through the night.
Slain, I rise from the bed,
Draw the curtain,
The funeral-flames fill the room, as
darkness breathes its last into me.

Picture design Anumita Roy

Mukul Kumar

Mukul Kumar is a civil servant, novelist and poet. Presently he is working in the Ministry of Railways. His published works include three novels, ‘As Boys Become Men’, ‘Seduction by Truth’ and ‘Lost in the Love Maze’, and three poetry anthologies, ‘The Irrepressible Echoes’ ‘Catharsis’ and ‘Rhythm of the Ruins’. Mukul has been honoured with the National award for 0utstanding service to the Indian Railways. His latest poetry collection “Rhythm of the Ruins” achieved the distinction of being recommended for Sahitya Akademi Award, 2024.

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