Today’s Temperature Broke A Record 

In Kolkata

It is around fifty degrees Celsius here. Heat wave sent me reeling. And that suddenly my favourite fountain pen, although second or third hand, broke apart without any reason had their impact on me.

The skin knows how far
we have arrived near the destruction.
Some summer burns I bear,
breathless, not only from 
seeing love in a summer dress 
but also from perspiring out my spirit.

My empty shell absorbs Davis,
iced tea, a list for the grocery,
laundry basket and the one 
with the cleanliness undone,
shady heat, love without any robes,
and my house enters within.

The spirit flies over the streets,
turrets, your house, calling you all 
“It is late. Wake up.” Your houses
too are inside you, and no one is in the house.

Kushal Poddar
Picture Nick Victor