Time바카라s stuttered utterances, half-words and orphaned vowels, lost mid-sentence
the clock-tower stood askance, a giant monolith, mnemonic eye sifting its gnarled brain
potholes, turning into craters, gulped vestiges of the dayÂ
blocks of memory, tinned sardines with expiry dates, lined up for the burnerÂ
the bartender, practised hands eulogising vintage spirits, poured one more shot
deck of cards dispatched in avian flurry
the joker strutted out
carefully circuiting the tripwire
and trumped the ace of spades
in a spark of momentous truth
an indignant church bell trolled on
zoned out in silo.
(Born and brought up in Kolkata, India, Raja Chakraborty is a bilingual poet, writing in English and Bengali. He authored, 'The Soup Bowl and Other Poems', 바카라Whispers in the Wind', 바카라Broken Lines and Rainbows' and 'About Maya and Other Poems'.)
