Situation

It's not the dark and dangerous night.
It's not the burning summer noon.
It's an indecisive evening, pendulum-like.

It's not the word that creates sensation.
It's not the empty paper that lies in silence.
It's a memory, the touch of a tear absorbed,
an island.

***

It may be poetry,
it may be dreams on the march,
a journey reaching its point of departure.
The first words of a love letter
remembered at its conclusion
by signature.

***

It's not the frozen stillness of ice.
It's not the melting of mountains.
It's the torture of a torch suspended
before conclusion.

***

It's not the world roamed on the Web.
It's not the movement of fingers on a keyboard
come to a stop.
It's a situation like the blackening screen
after turning the computer off.

Encounter

Clouds gather in the sky
like prohibited memories.
Like the sword of darkness
cutting the moon –
every cry of a soldier fallen
in the rain of bullets
roars: war.

***

Lies stuffed in gun barrels
become banners in the news,
convenient murders legalized.

***

The double tongue of law
we're not to question.
But blind government
has a nightmare –
a million voices chanting
the song of resistance.

Won't You Excuse Me

Time won't expire time after time.
The monitor cannot display
the contents of a virus-infected disk.

***

Moon, oh Moon.
Won't you excuse me
for ignoring your light
as I was passing through the streets.

***

Letting days go by
before recognizing
dawn and dusk,
spring shedding leaves
like autumn.

***

Moon, oh Moon.
Won't you excuse me
for ignoring
the glittering stars around you
as I was busy
gathering words
in a sleepless night.

I am an Honors graduate in Commerce and Postgraduate in Telugu literature from Berhampur Univiersity.  I have born in Berhampur, one of the important towns of the State Orissa in India. My age is 30 years. Presently I am working with 'EENADU' telugu daily newspaper. My poems have been published in several Telugu magazines and Poetry Anthologies.  Few of them have been broadcasted by All India Radio, Hyderabad.  Since 13 years I am writing Poems. My first Poem in English translation have been published in Words Words Words.

Contact Panyala Jagannath Das