A surreal poem, rich in imagery, by Gopal, exclusively for Different Truths.
A hyphen rests between the cobble and pebble there is this soft light dips and rises draw the movement of the sun, colour has other laws snatching saturation of hue from the twilight. Sand scatters on the gravel beach night draws the footprints on the wind ripples of crushed silt, there is the heartbeat of the moonless sky breaks into a lullaby. The dark print of the many lives outside the walls, on the street dimness, stillness: that is the sense. glass windows have rusted hinges invisible stars suffer and lose their voices. Memories recollect in large frames learn to leave others, the images fill up the invisible doors nothing enters, nothing escapes from the old-world canvass.
Visual by Different Truths
Gopal Lahiri, a prolific bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer, and translator, has 32 published books, including eight solo/jointly edited volumes. His poetry and prose grace over 150 global journals and anthologies, with translations into 18 languages across 17 countries. Nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize and 2025 Best of the Net, he earned the 2020 Setu Excellence Award and 2024 First Jayanta Mahapatra National Award. His work features in the Penguin Book of Poems on Indian Cities.
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