24 hrs.

trees greedily
hoard images of the moon
on their leaves;
dawn quietly
steals them again

the day plays out
in different hues and shades
and the birds
pull down the blinds

night tiptoes in quietly;
the raat ki rani
has quiet conversations
with the wind,
sometimes about the stars,
sometimes about the trees,

and sometimes
            about an absentee moon…

*raat ki rani: night blooming jasmine / cestrum nocturnum

*

JASMINE

scattered across the night sky
from a broken garland,
spreading its love
in curls

            crushed in the sweaty palms
            of little boys
            who love their mothers beyond reason

the fragrance
                      clinging like a mystery
to waves of dark, black hair
…intoxicating

*

Baisali Chatterjee Dutt is a domesticated nomad who writes, edits, dabbles in theatre and teaches. She also eats chocolate by the bucketful and gazes at clouds while trying to mother two teen boys.

Her poetry has been published in various anthologies and magazines, print as well as online. Her latest novella in verse, “Three is a Lonely Number”, is available on Amazon Kindle.

Born in New York, brought up in Bengaluru with college in New Delhi, she now lives in Kolkata.