by Bakul Banerjee
In her poem, Bakul Banerjee captures the cycle of life of a person till retirement.
Tiny miracles make a blastocyst.
Then, I try hard to attach myself
to the uterine wall and cling to it.
I wait
to grow strong held by a tendril,
a tether of some unknown origin.
I swim in an ocean and tremble.
I wait
to take the long journey to birth.
I am worn out, but scream loud.
Ordeal ends with Mama’s mirth.
I wait
to eat toothsome food and crawl.
I want to open curiosity cabinets.
I spy a knob – over there, a handle.
I wait
to grow up to explore the geometry
of the space and heart. The space part
is fine. My heart remains a quandary.
I wait
to make my way into a tough world.
Like a creeper clinging to cracks in
old towers, my fingers turn knurled.
I wait
to retire. I nurture fading connections.
Like a rhizome, I explore inside
the brain or out, seeking new directions.
No more waiting.
An award-winning author and poet Bakul Banerjee published her second collection of previously published poems, titled Bathymetry: Poems, in 2017. Her chapbook, titled Synchronicity: Poems, was published in 2010. For the past twenty years, her poems and stories appeared in several literary magazines and anthologies throughout the U.S. and India. She has been featured at several poetry readings and presented multiple poetry workshops. Bakul received a Ph.D. degree from The Johns Hopkins University.
