Poetry

 

By

Chumki Sharma

 

 

Foraging For Hope

 

 

Another ‘lukewarm’ message from him.

 

The word was never more fascinating.

 

Thesaurus warns me lukewarm is

 

‘moderately warm’, ‘indifferent’.

 

As if I was tepid bath water.

 

I lash at the pantry boy-

 

‘The coffee is lukewarm’.

 

The class tells me to define

 

the word and it occurs

 

to me I need an adverb now-

 

‘slightly warm’ or better still

 

‘only slightly warm’.

 

A world of connotations.

 

An ocean of emptiness,

 

that I hurry to fill

 

with adverbs like

 

‘only’ ‘slightly’ ‘little’.

 

Somehow in this void,

 

the sly adverbs

 

create space, possibility, hope.

 

A single new leaf

 

on the lone moneyplant

 

in my bathroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving The Circus

 

 

Her circus after all,

 

the best ringside view,

 

curtains go up,

 

ring master struts,

 

his lion flies through fire.

 

He stammers a few notes

 

of admiration.

 

She claps affectionately,

 

her circus after all.

 

The knife tamer slices the air

 

around her pretty head.

 

She blows a kiss to the

 

trapeze artist hanging

 

precariously on thin air.

 

But if you knew her,

 

you would know

 

her soft corner for the

 

clowns- She has twelve of them.

 

While their coup de act

 

is on,a lone man jumps

 

on the stage, starts

 

reciting Shakespeare.

 

Ah! Thirteen is a

 

special number, but

 

it’s time to leave the circus.

 

 

 

 

 

Chumki Sharma

Chumki Sharma is a poet from Calcutta, India. Her works have been published in several publications in different parts of the world. She is also a renowned spoken word performer who has been featured on the radio and other media. Currently, she is working on her manuscript ‘Running Away With The Garden’ when not engaged in her day job as a Banker.