A poignant poem and a beautiful painting, by Nibedita, for Different Truths.

in this decorated balcony
a flowerpot stands empty
attracting attention and questions
about its purpose and meaning

and I did think about filling it up
with flowers, fresh or synthetic
I did think about it
so many times

but over the years
this bit of unpremeditated space
flowered on me
with a surprising freedom 
only the flowerpot knows
 
(Published in “Earth Fire Water Wind” 2020, Authors Press)
 

Painting by the poet

Nibedita Sen

Kolkata-born Nibedita Sen is a painter and a bilingual writer and a seafarer. She has worked with the visually impaired as a resource-person and a rehabilitation-counsellor and worked as a creative Art Therapist with spinal injured people and sexually abused, disadvantaged children. Her paintings have been showcased in prestigious galleries in India and abroad. She has travelled widely and has written for newspapers, journals, magazines, and anthologies in India and abroad. She stays in Delhi.