Gossamer and Musings by Jagari Mukerjee

Gossamer and Musings
by Jagari Mukerjee

Like everything made of fireflies
and gossamer; 
or a snail shyly looking outside;
soap bubbles in the air, or trying to fathom
the distance as the blackbird flies...
is how I attempt to reach out to you
tenuously holding on to the skies.

Or, like an urn made of fired clay
all the waters of a dam contain…
I am content with my discontent
and all the soreness of a wound maintain…
I rage, I sigh – the urn harbors a cyclone –
all that is possible to sustain.

Friend, brother, lover, son...
the night is cold and I am awake
enough to think and miss you
all in one summer, winter, fall.
The sleeping pill will work its magic
soon enough for us to sleep
in the unconscious mind where the iceberg rests.
This pining is what Fate handed me best.
Don't imagine me complaining to the stars –
No, not at all.

Bio: A gold medalist in English Literature from University of Pune, Jagari Mukherjee is an award-winning bilingual poet, writer, and critic from Kolkata, India who writes in both Bengali and English. She is a recipient of DAAD scholarship (2005). Her writings have appeared in several journals like Tuck Magazine, Vox Poetica, Treehouse Arts, Scarlet Leaf Review, Plum Tree Tavern, Cafe Dissensus, Ethos Literary Journal, Margutte, and others. Her works have been translated into Bengali, French, and Italian. Among other awards, she won the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2018 for the best book review. Jagari is also a Best of the Net 2018 nominee. Her first book, a collection of poems entitled Blue Rose (2017), was published by Bhashalipi, Kolkata.