Gopal’s poem explores life and death cycles, evoking empathy and existential angst, exclusively for Different Truths, through a tragic bird’s tragic demise.
I saw a tiny bird mauled by a wild dog
The trees around my house mourn this.
I hold the bird gently and gauge the depth
of her wound. The life is gradually leaving
her body. This will save her from the pain,
hunger and hassle of searching the
nest. She will grow in her wounds again,
flying on the edges of the earth and sky.
Her chirps earlier covered the darkness of
my heart. I can see the human face of her.
I see the redness of her sharp eyes.
The last cry breathes her rage and anger.
When the sunlight spills over my courtyard
I want to drown myself in raging infernos.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, and translator with 33 books, including eight edited volumes. Anthologised in over 150 journals and anthologies worldwide and translated into 18 languages across 17 countries, he has received the Setu Excellence Award, a Pushcart Prize nomination, a Best of the Net nomination, the First Jayanta Mahapatra National Award, and First Prize at the 43rd World Congress of Poets. His Selected Poems was published by Classix, New Delhi.
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