Poetry 2017 Longlist Amal Bhattacharya

Image is Bigger Than Life

Life of a man and his living,
It’s more of a mental image, than life!
Where he builds, holds and lingers,
And life’s greatest meanings derive.
It’s in his imagination that he stays,
A home where the world comes to play!
Are you awake on the thoughts?
Which brought smiles and now sorrow, well?
It’s a paradise it seemed it brought,
And knocked upon the doors of hell.
Tears in eyes and sweat on the brow,
Where am I and where am I to go!
A sudden knock upon the harrowing clock,
Who’s this who came without a bang?
A wave or a ripple or a swing or a talk,
Oh! A thought it is… a complete blank.
Oh! where’s the grand brush Oh! The mighty pen?
Create me now…the joy, the smile, the heaven.
Ah! This journey deep inside the mental cage,
A handful can dare, share or marvel,
Nightmare, quarrel, rumpus, rage, where
Solitude, sublime, secrets together travel.
This image is what is even in mind of God,
Who made man, from his ardent thoughts?
All Images that builds this home,
Where we sing, think, dance and pray,
The squashy green the violet blue,
Makes the start and the end of the day.
I often stand beside the mind mill,
Thinking am I the ‘I’ still?