July 2022
Bio Note: I grew up in small towns of northern India and some of the best memories of my childhood are of the little roadside shops that begin to light up as the evening advances. I enjoy writing and occasinally painting. I am fortunate to be part of the most enthusiastic and supportive Verse-Virtual community, so warmly nurtured by Jim. My poems have appeared in Muddy River Poetry Review, Spillwords, Visual Verse, here and elsewhere.
Counting Sideways
She walks the hall, jumps the walls,
Drifts onto the footpath and glides over the sea-
My granddaughter fancies boundaries past infinity.
The dark outline of trees holds up the sky
Like a puffed canopy tied on all sides
Contemplating flight.
A crow sits on the parapet, a kite swoops
As I walk between raindrops
That hasten to erase their mark.
A voice is repeating chords in quest,
Barking is heard from afar in earnest
Devoid of tone and pitch.
Shadows are shimmering red,
Deep and shapeless, desires find no escape-
I am free in the songs of time, in the moment,
In the lines broken and dead.
©2022 Abha Das Sarma
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL