I love to soak in your words
To take them all in, like a sponge
Allow myself to sink heavily

To plunge

All the while feeling weightless

You translate how I feel so exactly
Like you have studied its linguistics
Mine,
and yours
And have mastered it.

Or maybe we’ve spoken the same hidden language all along
One word, to another, to a feeling, to a word,
to a thought, to another
feeling, another word.
Completely understood.
Beyond understood.
Understanding with depth
And sometimes with heights.

We love those heights

I love to soak in your words.

I’ve disappointed heaven
and I can tell you why -
I angered a silver angel
who came down from the sky.

She said, “I'm just a messenger
sent to share the word.”

I stood stone-still and waited
and this is what I heard:

“The coming Judgement will fulfil
- the rightful verdict of the Lord.”

“OK…” I answered, shyly -
in an effort to prompt for more.

But the seraphim started fading away
as if the message finished her chore..

I said, “Wait! I need a message I understand
- you have to give me more.”

The angel's face turned angry
and her tone became unkind -
she flipped her hair like a mean
girl and muttered “NEVERMIND”.

So if you’re messaged by an angel,
I hope you fare better than me
- I couldn’t decipher the message
- and she flew off angrily.

I have said all that's to be said,
And you have listened,
And I have listened,
To the end, gaining what?
Our words are co-absurd,
Inexpressive turds of information,
Dung heap of nonsense,
Good will with perfect enunciation,
But crawling with itch, twitch and head-nod,
In place of mutual understanding,
A babelmist of manners and small talk,
In which we are umbrella-less,
Soggy with positivity,
But it's for the best, I guess,
Have a good day, till tomorrow then?
Finally! Until, tomorrow, we say it all over again.

I don’t accept
I’m not ready
You’re not ready

To say
“I’m sorry”

Because to forgive for me
Is to forget for you

And I’m not ready
For you to forget

I need you to remember
To think
To agonize

As I have remembered
And thought
And agonized

Not as punishment
Sometimes pain is necessary for growth

So I need you to struggle
To grow
To seek to understand

Otherwise your “sorry”
Is a blank canvas
Meant for me to write
The meaning

I refuse to do your labor
To bear this pain alone

I don’t accept
Your “sorry”

this essence has been boiled down to the nearest nothing
and deep down, it feels familiar—

a bird too grown to only now learn to fly,
its wingtips creased the wrong way,
nearly featherless, and weak.
nowhere to go but down
and even then,
impact doesn't promise
resolution.

a poem with too few metaphors,
too much “telling”— we get the point
but SHOW us—
as if listless anger and sadness
it's just a clear-cut visual,
crystalline in memory against all odds.

this essence had been boiled down to the nearest nothing
and deep down, it feels misunderstood.

Me, my wife and our married life

I got married in 2003
Life was young and free
I was 26
and I took the risk

I belong to a joint family
she grew in a nuclear family
Our thoughts were a mismatch
conversations were out of catch

She liked to have an open talk
I was a reserved lot
Her expectations were different
my ideologies were repellent

she was a career woman
I an ambitious man
I persuaded on my own business
her career was left in a mess  

slowly I started understanding
life started turning
she became my good friend
our conversations are in blend

Now our marriage is in teen
Life looks all young and green
With my kids, my dear
Thank you God, my eyes in tear.

Hemang Dani

You’ve stopped talking to me and I don’t know why...

I hate this - this feeling - this anguish, with it’s retinue of mysteries.

Was it something I said? I’m sorry - I curse my rebel lips.

Was it something I didn’t say? I’m sorry - I was the unaware child.

I’m just a girl – not some faultless machine

There needs to be a manual – a manual for... everything - so Id know.

Is there a more contemporary narrative than disappointment at the hands of this Internet plaything - this toy-like trap we hope will inform us and we think we command?

I know questioning destroys some things.. but I don’t understand.

I don’t understand.

Why is your opinion the only one that matters?
So stubborn and unreasonable it causes emotional scatter

My wholesome intentions are now twisted and skewed
Is it so hard to sympathize with another point of view?

I can be two things at once rational and empathetic
Couldn't you then be sensible and sympathetic?

You don't understand, but that doesn't make me wrong
My intentions, rationale and viewpoint also belong  

Guilty for doing what I feel is right and ****** if I don't
You could just be kind and support me, but I know you won't


You say I have a choice, but I know what that means
An order of silent treatment with a side of love liens

If I'm picking battles this is not one I'm fighting to win
The victory with a punishment that doesn't match the sin

Ultimately, it isn't the end of the world if I don't get my way
Respecting my reasons are not black and white, just simply grey

Even if you can't understand the picture to see my play

I'm tired and just trying my best not to take it to the mat

This time couldn't you just respect and trust me anyway

After all these years...

Haven't I earned that?

I will take the truth from your lips
And kiss the pain out of it,
Till all that remains
Is our happy little lie.

I will take the love in your gift
And throw away the wrapping bit,
Revealing the gains:
Our happy little life.

The world has turned into a global village
No one can deny on that...

But..remember the phone we had placed on that beautiful table mat?
Yes...it was a matter of pride to have one..

The only fastest medium of communication we had at that time
It too had models...the rotary phone, the keypad and many fancy ones

We talked, laughed and sobbed sitting at one place as we were tied with the corded set with everyone.

It was safe.....no fear of radiation or loss of eye sight .

Though it was much too costlier than what it is today....people still communicated and talked their heart out

Now...every hand has a cell phone which comes with many features overcoming the limitation of the old one
People can connect anywhere in no time
Then why...?
We are so disconnected.....!

May be we mastered the art of telepathy?...or we are blessed with a magical wand...?

We talk no more
We only make groups
We love forwarding messages

We have become mute.....

So can we again move to landline?
Come out of the virtual world by talking to our dear ones at this time?
Can we try and understand what they are hiding behind their smiling whatsapp profiles?

Let's do things one at a time...rather than multitasking with phone on one hand and laptop on the other...
Let's give them the love and respect when one needs from your side.
So ..... sit back and dial a number of your loved one...and help the world again to become one if not through landline but may be your heartline!!

Bina Mukherjee