Here is an inward-looking poem about longing for life and nature, by Dr Parneet, exclusively for Different Truths.

An incessant thirst –
As a cloud traps droplets in its bosom,
to quench its thirst and release them to the earth,
A pair of blue dolphins intrigue with cadenced leaps over water,
returning to the blue abode in just a moment.
An array of pigeons sailing on the grey carpet
in a tapestry of triangular patterns
appear as arrows heading straight to their ruffled abode.
The hustle and bustle in a formicary,
ants at work, doing, finding, doing,
I know my thirst now –
A cosy dwelling
where I am with me, my fatigued limbs and a silent emptiness,
a silence –
gathered after learning hundreds of ragas sung on different talas,
a silence –
where the words end and tunes begin
a silence –
where the dark tunnel ends into a thin streak of light.

Picture design by Anumita Roy, Different Truths

Dr Parneet Jaggi

Dr. Parneet Jaggi is Associate Professor of English in Rajasthan, India. She has four collections of poems in English and two research books to her credit. Her historical fiction The Call of the Citadel (2020) is well-acclaimed. Her poems have been anthologised in various journals. Her name appears in the Directory of Writers in America’s famous magazine Poets and Writers. She is Associate Editor of International Journal of Education and English Literature, Montreal, Canada.