I’m a Bengali in sombrero
An Indian from Kolkata
I live at a stone’s throw
From where flows the Ganga.

I speak in Bengalee
For me the sweetest language
Like the Ganga flows freely
Has Sanskrit as lineage.

Rice is my staple food
So are dal and fish
A cup of tea is too good
With two biscuits on a dish.

Around me spreads green countryside
Where grows all the foodgrain
Rivers flow wild and wide
Their banks home joy and pain.

I was born and reared in this riparian land
Where soil is tilled in peasants’ sweat
Sparkles in moon the Bay’s white sand
Weaving dreams for many a poet!

There’s an old joke, “Procrastinate NOW, because
the sooner you fall behind, the longer you’ll have to catch up.”
Ha ha.

While a lot of students around here, even the good ones,  
are procrastinators, I’m a diagnosed pre-crastinator.
I obsess over syllabuses and start things immediately.
I've got rough drafts of things due three months from now.
I’m a planner. Leisure time makes me itch.

I say that to say this, I’m reaping my rewards.
There’s a palpable layer of fret in the air.
Everyone's (the seniors) talking about their theses,
and how they need to start it—first thing yesterday.
I just listen, playing Flappy Bird on my phone, because I’m done.

When my professor handed my thesis paper back the other day,
he said, “This is good.” At first, I was delighted, quietly rocking it inside.
Then I floundered, becoming somewhat indignant. Why’d he sound surprised? Because I handed it in a little (80 days) early?
But soon enough, I was back to happiness.
I’ll have to defend it one day, but I’ll go first, wait and see.

Shall we wax poetic?

I’m like the sea, always restless
and I enjoy the flavor of honest effort.
I dub snark, and the little, jealous glances,
I blunt them with chey smiles, while thinking,
‘I’ll row my boat, and you row yours—just a little slower.’

Let them whisper me freakish
though I win a thousand crowns,
the real pleasure lies in my gun slinger’s sang-froid,
to finish the commission first and be the best.
.
.
Songs for this:
Let Me Down Easy by Gang of Youths
Let Me Go by CAKE

i loathe
pity
and weakness

(you know this)

they threaten my peace
they counter my core

you are both

you are nothing

you are the me
that i fear

You will
always be the
light.  for me.
you are. Life.
I see you.
the long distance
between us
does not blind me
from your heart.
Where God lives.
And She has a way
of showing up
out of no where
out from the depths
of bleakness. Stopping.
Your suffering.
It travels from across
the globe again and again.
We see you.
Our collective hearts breaking.
Open. Unseen.
Gifts flowing from the seat of God.
There sitting with you.
without suffering.
Like you
are Majestic. Eternal.
Love sending you love.
Always. And again.

We were intelligent once.
Nothing was artificial about us.
The stars reigned over
our astrology.
we were content.
We read the sky. like
prophets undying.
We listened to the soft
voices of the rain and plants.
We obeyed our station in the world.
to the rhythm of everything.

What happened to us.

we
held
intelligence
once.

and we'll begin again.
releasing what
has to be shed.
keeping the core
of our souls intact
like trees

we will be still
like the wisdom
of trees.

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36