Avik Chanda
Torch Lamp Drawings

Torch Lamp Drawings

I.

A neat triangle at first, equilateral
as in the Vastusutra, then another,
inverted and superimposed on it,
and at the bottom, craggy letters
in Bengali: fire, water, life
the desperate refuse of hope.

II.

Thin strokes strung in a mesh
around the wishing tree: Puri.
Here, for a hundred or two,
we guarantee riches and sons
and a laptop. Tie your string,
my good sir, like the others.

III.

Lively at the Dusseldorfer Nacht:
a clot of mellow light at the top
left hand corner, with lines
sliding down in beered perspective,
tracing a lithograph tracing Böll:
der Zug war punktlicht.

IV.

Dermis over veins, blood, flesh
and metacarpals. Her hand.
And between the sunburnt here
and there of skin, this most
delicate of all strokes, marking
the band where she wore her ring.

Poet's Biography:

Avik Chanda is a Management Consultant, freelance writer with several articles, art reviews, short stories published in Indian dailies, and a painter. Chanda's most recent showing is a solo exhibition of paintings at Kolkata, June 2001. Recent poetry publications include Poetry Today, Sulekha, King Log, 3rd Muse, Alittlepoetry.com, Poetry Splash, Black Bear Review and Adirondack Review.