Broken Dawns and Unfinished Nights – Two poems by Mitra Samal
Photo: Karan Madhok
‘Your poem seemed like a dream / hiding under the warmth of / your breath, in the chillness of winter.’
Sleep
Sleep doesn’t come at times, as
if a barbed wire separates it from
putting my thoughts to an end.
The loud vibrations of my heart
disturb the silence of sleep
I bury my eyes to make them
heavy but sleep is torn away
by invisible wild spirits
who wander in the night.
When it finally comes, breaking
the spells of my mind, I don’t rest
but grow restless. My thoughts grow clouded
and form nightmares stretching
into dawn. I am trapped within myself
battling, a caged bird,
flapping its wings to escape
I want to be awake, I may have falsely awoken
many times. I pinch myself, feel the pain.
I know the light penetrating
into the room might save me
*
Your Poem
Your poem spoke to me of unkept
promises and scattered memories,
Of broken dawns and unfinished nights.
Your poem was the blinking twilight
and the endless wait for the rising sun.
It was the wind heavy with dust and
the water breaking into waves,
yet
Your poem seemed like a dream
hiding under the warmth of
your breath, in the chillness of winter.
It was the path within a path, where
I was lost and found again.
It was a culture, not very different
from mine and a silent celebration
for my weak heart, that grew stronger
with each flowing word.
***
Mitra Samal presently lives in Bhubaneswar, India where she is a software professional with a passion for both technology and literature. Her recent poetry book called Beginning was published in 2018. Her poems have been published in Poetry Society India, Muse India, Borderless Journal, Madras Courier, Setu, The Punch Magazine, Dissident Voice and FemAsia among others. You can find her on Instagram: @am_mitrasmal and Twitter: @MitraSamal.
