Once upon a time I used to walk in this
Triangular Park, in its lows and highs
the memories cruise along, the evening glow
reclaims my childhood ever so softly.
Once upon a time you used to come to the park,
took my hands and we danced together and
the song I still remembered vividly
The stars in the sky do not respond to the call.
Once upon a time an assembly of stars tossed sermons
with dust follicles for a mass of old barns,
all those high octaves thinned to your lips
breaking into a long chip poem.
Once upon a time, pedestrians used to walk the street.
but inside the park the recollections of voice
poured in amidst the palpable silence.,
those tall buildings dropped my last letters.
Once upon a time a long shadow crossed over
Why couldn’t my memory fail? Why
that song sounded like that of fireworks?
Why didn’t the notations conceal the anguish?
Once upon a time, some stories told me
about your existence, the stills were never still,
let us have not made ruckus over the twilight,
its colour of love never really left the bone.
Once upon a time, all these places where the colour
bloomed, a part of me stood there till a few
drops of rain wet the soil and I cupped my hands,
following it out, I broke into a song.
The stars in the sky do not respond to the call.
Gopal Lahiri
Picture Nick Victor
@gopallahiri
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Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 33 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than one hundred journals and anthologies globally His poems are translated in 18 languages and published in 19 countries. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021 and Best of the Nets for poetry in 2025. His ‘Selected Poems’ was published by Classix, New Delhi. His recent book ‘Wasp and Filament ‘ was published by Hogg Press, Madison, US.
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