Winter on my Mind: Part III
Thirteen poems on winter from the subcontinent
Hello!
Instead of the usual Monday newsletter, I’m sending out three January round-up newsletters (Read Part I and Part II), with all the incredible winter-themed poetry, art and photography we’ve published in The Alipore Post Journal this month.
I accepted way too many submissions for this open call, but I’m still glad I did.
31 days, 31 journal features. And more to come in February! :)
// Poetry
1. A Conversation Over Telephone by Aishwarya Roy
“This piece is about all the conversations that keep us warm on cold winter nights. Not knowing something or someone can be so painful and endearing at the same time. And yet, we don't want to know everything. For when telephone lines waver, telepathy persists like the voice we cannot hear, but only feel in the abyss of our souls.”
-Aishwarya Roy
Read the full piece by Aishwarya here.
2. Winter by Renjini Rajagopalan
I judge all seasons by the clock, except winters.
Winters,
when the Sun,
peaks through my blinds
unable to make up its mind,
on whether to roost within the cosy comfort of my old, rust coloured
Persian carpet,
which has weathered many seasons and many storms.
It stands instead like an old love, waiting by the door,
unsure of its welcome.
Winters,
when my little ginger cat,
will hopscotch through patches of sunlight
as it wanes and waxes through my living room windows.
I can tell the passage of time
by the way he expands or contracts himself,
as though a wayward elastic band,
hydrated only by the sun.
Winters,
When my mind inexplicably wants to travel
in search of sugarcane fields, that remind me of dappled sunlight.
My body however is sweetly lethargic,
the blanket at my feet is the gentlest of cobwebs,
making me want to nest,
even as the heart wanders,
held in thrall of sun-drenched
memories.
3. Dear Winter Lover by Smrithi Amarendran (Excerpt)
“Maybe it is written
with words conjured
from my poet heart
that we push aside doubt
brave this winter together
look for hope in the darkest nights
And all that we mourn
we mourn across this
emotional wasteland
will be worth that one
moment of pure joy
in this deep blue sea of winter”
Read the full poem by Smrithi here.
4. Hibernation by Sritama Sen (Excerpt)
Benefits of hibernation:
No running in circles, no tears,
No bills no calls no open doors.
Just the quilt and the sun
And the endless cold
Turning the tip of your nose too pink.
Let us sleep, and only wake
when frost melts, and things
are made gentler in the heat.
Let us sleep, so when we wake
there will be clouds on every street.
And I will dance, I promise
I won't miss a single beat.
Read the full poem here.
5. The Blue Hour by Ritika Gandhir (Excerpt)
I lift my head - this moment
Is a stable whirlpool.
I widen my arms and wind
Embraces my torso
I shut my eyes in a
Kind unrest.
The clock strikes seven.
Sun is bidding goodbye
I hope to meet him tomorrow.
The leaves dance
With no coherence, no break.
The sun is fast asleep,
And all the trees are wide awake.
Read the full poem here.
6. A Year in Waiting by Ekasmayi Naresh (Excerpt)
Profound it seemed,
That, which could be,
this year foretold
promising futures to me.
That I’d find my voice,
Act on my choice
and deservingly rejoice
the coming of age
of the one I want to be.
Read the full poem here.
7. Woeful Winter by Snehal Amembal
Winter wraps me in her frosty embrace
Her freezing fingers like icicles almost burning my skin
I stand there transfixed by her sheer power
A stark reminder of the cold descending upon my being
Oh how I long for the warmth of Summer’s sunshine
But it is not to be as she tightens her grip around me
Is this what it feels like to be a corpse in a morgue?
Dark thoughts swirl around my mind much like a snow storm, uncontrolled, difficult to settle
I try to think of new life and the regenerative power of Spring’s optimism
But she stares at me and laughs her cruel laugh
Is this what it feels like to be thrown into a never ending abyss?
Then slowly my mind begins to shed expectations from Winter
For it will only manifest in pain
And that’s when I think of letting go as the symbolic strength of Autumn’s wisdom dawns upon me
And gradually I learn how to survive Winter in all her frozen glory
8. On a normal winter day by Bharti Bansal (Excerpt)
“It is another cold evening in a small town
Probably a village where stars are visible clearly
People have reached their homes
Office hours are over because my mother has returned from work
And I am lying on my bed as if future is a dreary dream
I have no vocabulary to translate how I feel into poetry
I am a refugee in my own body
But that doesn't make a good diaspora story
There is too much me in every word I write”
Read the full poem here.
9. Meet Me in Montauk by Paarmita Vedi (Excerpt)
Your thoughts and words have been my
Constant saviour, my guide and my definition of love.
I can feel.
Your kind heart against the backdrop of cruel and merciless snow.
I was gone. You waited.
I press the dry flower you gave me
in between my palms,
Struggling to locate its lost fragrance.
I hear the Storm of Vivaldi getting farther
Like some river dying in the hidden woods.
I am losing myself and turning into nothing.
Read the full poem here.
10. Momos For Dinner by Bibhusha Rai (Excerpt)
Now the moment I await,
pleating momos.
Perfectly kneaded dough
by Ama waits,
with forks we place the filling,
tuck in the dough and pleat.
I hurriedly make one
seeking parents approval
but I have misjudged
too much filling,
too much good can be bad too.
Read the full poem here.
11. Winter Knuckles, Summer Legacies by Shayoni Thakkar (Excerpt)
Distances between stranger knuckles dying
Like the days in winter.
Pulling towards each other
Like bodies seeking summer warmth.
Fitting each other
Like jigsaw pieces in the grand scheme of things.
What are we but just our knuckles?
Looking for a stranger’s knuckles to fit into ours?
Read the full poem here.
12. When winter by Yamuna Prakash (Excerpt)
Winters are when,
the leaves return.
In yellow, red
and deep orange,
withering, falling free,
waiting to kiss the ground.
Winters are when,
the warmest hugs await.
Razais find their nooks,
jerseys come to breathe,
out from their sleeping closets,
the missing socks get to meet.
Read the full poem here. Accompanying art by Arinita Sandilya in the journal.
Making through the nights on a chilly day by Devika Mathur (Excerpt)
The nights have told a story to my ear
about grief and the city departing its corner-
The roads look smaller each day,
with sunlight glowing like a Mongrel in a daydream.
The room has attached its bones to my cervix,
my bones all lukewarm today,
snowy, small and warm.
Read the full poem here. Accompanying art by Meghna Kohli in the journal.