A love poem, by Ketaki, exclusively for Different Truths.

The fire has a magic, all its own.
In the crackling, in the hissing are emotions,
Captured and contained in the flaming glow,
Moaning, wanting, speaking with flames,
When the Fire Gods blaze,
Messages of healing or destruction.
Dressed in orange and yellow hues…
With maroon crackling veils of tissues, 
They carry tales of long, long ago, 
From a secret, mystical, primordial age.

My eyes glow and reflect their depths,
My limbs glow their heat,
The fire burns in me…
My mouth still tastes of you,
My skin has your fragrance,
I feel your touch, your surreal embrace,
As you draw me in your warm embrace.
Each atom of me inhales the woodsmoke,
The embers red with passion,
Create their golden dome.
As the smoke trembles high on its journey…

Next to the fire we lay on the earth…
listening to the cackling laughter of wood flames.
Time is lost in the lethargy of after love.
In the energy of the moon, 
The unseen tides move…
Measureless is the space…
Gossamer are the threads of desire,
Woven by the fire.

Picture design by Anumita Roy, Different Truths

Ketaki Mazumdar

Ketaki Mazumdar is an educationist and received the National Award for Excellence in Teaching from the then President, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Passionate about poetry, her latest book of poems, “Woodsmoke and Embers” and she, are listed in the ‘Top 50 Most Influential Authors of 2021’, by Delhiwire. Her poems have immense depth, are evocative and deeply contemplative. A prolific writer, she contributes to several poetry sites and anthologies, both nationally and internationally.

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