Phantom
written by: Suman Mondal
Every night, when sunlight dims,
The life-cycle crumbles
And the cool air wraps around,
Relics rekindle in the stillness.
Philosophers in the late night,
Thoughts dissolve, love ebbs,
And life unstitches.
A girl resurfaces the carcasses,
Withering pulses beat for her father –
A boy snared remnants from dustbin,
A dog throbs, shivering in the cold.
A young girl blurs in darkness, fearing –
The murmurs of demons flickering –
Some struggle for crystallized dreams,
Some breathe their last with quiet teardrops –
The mother at the old-age home sees the phantom
Of her son and his daughter-in-law, emblazoned.
Forlorn?
Suman Mondal is an emerging poet from West Bengal, India. His two philosophical poems, Meditation on Life and Meditation on Mortality, have been published in The Statesman, a well-respected Indian newspaper. His short stories and essays have appeared in The Statesman, Lekh magazine, Faith Hope & Fiction, and most recently, in the festival issue of The Statesman (2024). Currently, he is pursuing an honours degree in English literature at Rampurhat College, affiliated with Burdwan University.
