Sangeeta explores the jarring disconnect between thoughtful silence and relentless noise in this evocative poem for DifferentTruths.com.
I suddenly come out of the trance
You asked me a question
And that too was so sudden.
I summon myself to answer
Though many of your words were unintelligible.
Hold on
Allow me space to introspect
Dwell on the right words
Before allowing myself to speak.
But before I begin,
You slap hard with your opinion
And continue.
There’s no sight of cessation in your roar.
Is it fair that you rush with your blabber
With no proper knots
And so many loose ends.
As if hurling pebbles at my face.
My words crumble and fall to pieces
Even before they take shape.
I am swollen with a severe distaste
At your relentless self-praise.
I have my answers, but they cannot emerge in haste.
Oh, you will never know that I weigh them well
Before they meet the air.
I wouldn’t want them to emanate a foul smell
As they reverberate.
They are layered with some pauses, ifs, buts and maybe some sense.
And of course, with some fine etiquette.
I wouldn’t want to hurl them wildly
With a hurried pace.
But you’ll never understand.
For you conclude after finishing
Your cycle.
The language, at times, appears to be picked up from some rusty corners.
I nod my head with probing eyes.
To comprehend if you have concluded.
And
If I can decipher that you have filled yourself
To the brim.
And have put the round dot of the punctuation mark.
I quietly heave a sigh.
And move my gaze to the stars.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Sangeeta Dey Roy is an author, poet, fiction, and non-fiction essayist who has been published widely in several magazines, souvenirs, newspapers including The Assam Tribune and Telegraph, national and international anthologies and co-edited a few magazines and the anthology named,” Mystic Reveries”. Her debut book is a collection of 81 poems. She’ s a member of ispell and IPPL. She hails from Haflong, Assam and is a teacher by profession.
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