Eerie Quiet
The whispers stop short, held, and left hanging.
all those street lights are off,
have you opened the door?
The night is dense and dark,
the answer this time will not be a shout.
Inside, the narrow living room
brick walls hung with abstracts paintings
and light bulbs hooded
by vaguely laboratorial shades.
human skeletons on wooden spikes gather
darkness in the underground dungeon.
Coffee is still sparkling hot, the sugar crystals whitish,
at the far corner of the table, the ashplant fades in,
dish towels and napkins bleed red
the soft palm you caress and grasp, that I can’t feel,
it’s only a cut near the throat, are you really there?
©2023 Gopal Lahiri All rights reserved.
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 29 books published, including eight jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across various anthologies globally. His poems are translated in 16 languages. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021, He has received Setu Excellence award in poetry.