Sudeep Sen. Poems

It is mid-afternoon now,
the sun streaks slant wards
through the attic's double-glazing
melting the scorched ink
...

One moonlit December night
you came knocking at my door,
I took my time to open.
...

My syntax, tightly-wrought—
I struggle to let go,
to let go of its formality,
...

some things, I knew,
were beyond choosing:

didu—grandmother—wilting
under cancer’s terminus care.
...

A bright red boat
Yellow capsicums

Blue fishing nets
Ochre fort walls
...

Under the soft translucent linen,
the ridges around your nipples

harden at the thought of my tongue.
You — lying inverted like the letter ‘c’ —
...

You carelessly tossed
the jacket on a chair.
The assembly of cloth
collapsed in slow motion
...

Outside, “Allah-u-Akbar”
pierces the dawn air —
It is still dark.
...

a languorous kiss —
the faintest smell of ocean —
salt-lipped breeze, pleading —
...

As winter secrets
melt

with the purple
sun,
...