3 Poems by Jyothsna Phanija

The Aged Winter

The aged winter,
Folded with the foggy trees,
Blanketed with the sprouting crops,
Drowsily  caress the contagious breeze.

Lighting the firewood, heavy with the misty feast,
Sleeping in the disappeared roads,
Waking at the cold fume,
Walking in the shorter days even  with the cracked feet,
Mumbling  with the  Vaseline prevented lips,
Fatigue of retelling the little fairy tales.

Lonely in the longer nights,
On frosty grass mattress,
Shivering with the cough syrup induced sleep,
Nightmarish of the cold death,
And of the  summer flames burning her corpse.


Inmate
(Appeared in Magnets and Ladders)

Hectically travelled Moon
Somewhere gibbous, somewhere fullest,
Bluest of Pecola’s eyes,
Picture clicking lakes reflex
Certifies my fantasy.
I gather my nerves
From scattered portions.
Stretch my fingers,
Catch the ashes
Of the diametrical horoscopes.
Hissing records inside my mind
I dictate.
He writes them in broken sentences.
Soon he forgets.
Pills, sleep,
Hanging wires, trays beside tables.
I laugh at the laughter on the mirror.


Letters in seasons

Autumn leaves,
Sandy fragrance,
Thunder clouds,
Together, we breathe poetic assonance.

The warm winter,
Mystic fear,
Chopping some colour,
We live in dreamy shore.

Mango leaves cent,
Summer cool slate,
I write
Seasons of love letters you create.

Bionote

Jyothsnaphanija is a PhD research scholar in English Literature at EFL University, Hyderabad, India. Her poetry has  appeared in Melusine, The Nervous Breakdown, Muddy River Poetry Review, Northeast review, Coldnoon, Kritya, Indian Ruminations, CounterPunch, American Diversity Report, Magnets and Ladders, wordgathering, among several others. Her short stories have appeared in eFiction India, Thick jam, ETC. Her research articles have appeared  in Subalternspeak, eDhvani, Wizcraft, Barnolipi and in several books.  She blogs at phanija.wordpress.com