Memory

by Bibhu Padhi (September 2014)

1.

 

Each time it is awakened,

I move within myself

to find if it is there too.

 

And I’m told:

you’ve gone far inside yourself,

you’ve kept everything here,

 

including the small town

of Dhenkanal.

 

 

2.

 

Where do memories come from,

from which abyss or heaven?

 

The answer is simple:

they’ve been here

 

on the surface throughout;

it is just that we never thought so.

 

 

3.

 

Winter is ending, and all that was

with it are ending too

 

leaving my tree bare, restless,

impatient for another spring.

 

I live within my spring-leanness.

 

__________________ 

 

Bibhu Padhi’s eighth book of poems, Magic Ritual, was published earlier this year. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, the most recent being THE HARPERCOLLINS BOOK OF ENGLISH POETRY (2012). He lives in Bhubaneswar, India.

 

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