The City of Silence by Paramita Adhikari

 The City of Silence

I live in a very lonely city, uninhabited everyway;

There is no rush to return home everyday-

There is no one waiting in my house,

Except that old lock of frozen iron and two black-eyed mouse.

Everyday  the  lock waits for me hanging at the door,

Everyday  the  mouse welcome me greeting like a whore!

The lock is being released after  I returned home,

And the two black-eyed mouse reflect on my eyes, creating foam.

There is no one waiting for me in this lonely city-

 The oven in my house isn’t burning properly;

The fire is waiting for me, earnestly,

The dry pots tell me to stand by and cook something,

The dusty dining table is also  inviting ;

To touch them with a spoon of food,

But I don’t know why I always become so rude.

What a story of loneliness in this city!

The soaring ceiling fan turns silently,

It doesn’t know to wait, it fills the room with air entirely;

I breathed my last under it at the end of the weary day,

I want to build a relationship with this secluded city as a gay.

When I climb the staircases one by one , being tired and exhausted ,at night

The dust of this whole city is left on every step, glittering bright;

Clinging under my shoes as my all time companion of plight.

What an insignificant loneliness living in the streets of this city,

Oh! This city stands alone;

Blown! Stone! Unknown! 

About The Author

Paramita Adhikari is currently working as a SACT (State-Aided College Teacher) at the Department of English in Serampore Girls’ College under the University of Calcutta. Her areas of research interest are Indian English Partition Novel, Third Wave Feminism, American Metaphysics, Canadian Short-Story, Modern Poetry. She is a passionate learner. Poetry is her constant companion. She is a people person.