Formation of a Face | Madhu Kailas

(cover photograph direction: Ene Ochayi)

Through dense mist, semi-settled and semi-adrift—

sedimentation of lorn sentiments

line the inner wall of my heart.

An imprint carries cracks

but does not pulverise and set me free.

Through the rarefied darkness of night—

set in a tone

more akin to remembrance of absence of light—

your face traverses such spaces

through a fine tapestry of memories.

Flowing toward me, like an apparition,

bereft of speech; first—an impression,

and then growing flesh of faith

into a robust nakedness

resplendent with life.

Layers of your face and language of your eyes

will collect me calmly someday

from a litter of despondency (I pray):

as your face gathers strength

through the years.

Madhu Kailas

is the pen name of Kingshuk Basu. He is a native of Kolkata, India and has lived in various places in India and USA. He is the author of two poetry selections, ‘The Birds Fly in Silence’, 2014 by Writer’s Workshop Kolkata and ‘The Boatman of Murshidabad’, 2021 by Aleph. He has been published in journals like Indian Literature, The Amistad, Acumen, Slippery Elm, The Gateway Review, Plainsongs Poetry Magazine, The Bosphorus Book Review, The Marathon Literary Review, Dragon Poet Review, New Mexico Review, Sutterville Review, The Punch Magazine, The Literary Voyage, Langlit, and in an anthology titled ‘Converse’ on 75 years of contemporary Indian poetry in English. He lives with his wife and children in Mumbai.