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Yours Truly

by Purabi D Bhattacharya

The theme of pain, withdrawal, longing run amuck in this poem by Purabi. It brings along the memories of the people the poet has mingled with, the rain soaked Shillong, its hills and then leaving the land. The belief of returning to the land remains even if it means in the form of a carcass.

Then one fine day, I found me with my holdall
tear loaded
walking through the boulevards, mossy meadows
rains as always it does, brushed against my bosom
I was a woman of my own, my head
vermillion drawn.
Home shrunk and soon, out of sight
it was a misty August, unlike other years.
From badeng1 to mei2, touched my slender shoulder
strange but true, my eyes remained staring, desert raided.

Years sand-surged in scribbled, unscribbled plain papers. The outer
tanned and wilted
it was my turn, I knew
never to knock, so I turned the burden towards my right with hand on my cheeks.

Many mornings later following the August outing,
they found me towns and towns afar; kempt, unkempt plains further
from where, yours truly belonged
with flies settled over and wolves in full attendance
the body
lay peaceful, fern green: pine leaves strewn over.

  1. How most young boys are called in Khasi language, the predominant language of Meghalaya, of which Shillong is capital city.
  2. ‘Mother’ in Khasi
Purabi D Bhattacharya is a writer from Shillong, India. Currently based in Gujarat, she teaches English literature, and has a collection of poems ‘Call me’ published by Writers Workshop, India. Her poems have appeared in print journals, anthologies such as ‘Quest’ and on internet poetry portals, very recently in ‘Tuck Magazine’.
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