Echoes of Winter
Poetry by Urmi Chakravorty: ‘Hope glistened on the peaks afar / while the russet dunes of chinar leaves / formed a gentle duvet for our fiery yen.’
I draped the pashmina shawl today
that once wove patterns in wool
entwined with our half-embroidered longings—
now long drowned and buried
under memories of the click-clack of my knitting needles,
steaming kahwa, and crackling logs
on a cosy wintry night in Kashmir.
The shikaras peddled our dreams
amidst the floating hyacinths and lotus leaves.
Hope glistened on the peaks afar
while the russet dunes of chinar leaves
formed a gentle duvet for our fiery yen.
And while it snowed outside all night long,
I listened to the silence of your heart
humming a hundred amorous tunes.
Then the snow melted, and your passion thawed,
The glades burst into a tapestry of bloom
mocking the thorns pricking my heart.
I made a bouquet of fresh green sprigs,
pinned with a crystal tear drop
and beads of frozen scarlet droplets.
Walking through the pines and deodars,
I placed it on the ashen grave
that cradled the corpse of my callow youth.
***
Urmi Chakravorty is a former educator and presently, a freelance writer, reviewer, and editor based out of Bangalore, India. Her non-fiction pieces have been published in The Hindu and The Times of India. Her short stories and poems have found space in twenty-five national and international literary journals and anthologies, including Women’s Web, TMYS Reviews, Borderless Journal, Mean Pepper Vine and The Wise Owl. Urmi is an Orange Flower awardee for writing on LGBTQIA issues. Her writings can be read here: www.wordsnverses.com. She is on Instagram: @chakravortyurmi.
