The following poem by Debarshi Mitra won the second prize of Fifty Thousand Rupees in Wingword Poetry Competition 2017.
Debarshi wishes to bring the time to standstill, at night. She wants the neighborhood to stop in time and only the street lamps would flicker at its designated corner of the street. The time could be so still that the watchman would suck time into his lungs from his unfinished cigarette. The stray dogs would be quiet and in their places while the windows remain shut and not a leaf dares to move. She wishes the time to be so still that the shadow in her bed of, assumably, her loved one wouldn’t leave. She wants the shadow to remain there and that would only be possible if the time was still.
The poem is short and direct in its delivering of the thoughts of the poet. The poet wants to remain with her lover even though it's their shadow. The lover is not there physically and maybe won’t be there in future and this is why the poet wants the time to stop and be at a standstill so that the shadow remains in her bed, never leaving her.
It seems at this time of the night,
I could bring my neighborhood to a standstill
just by wishing if it were so. Only the street lamps
flicker in nervous anticipation and precisely
at the designated corner, the night watchman
holds up his unfinished cigarette
and sucks time into his lungs. The windows
remain shut, all stray dogs occupy their respective
places in the universe. Not a leaf dares to quiver.
Even the shadow of the thought of you in my bed
refuses to leave.
Debarshi Mitra is the second prize winner of Wingword Poetry Competition 2017. He is a 22 year old poet from New Delhi, India. His debut book of poems ' Eternal Migrant' was published in May 2016 by Writers Workshop. His works have previously appeared in anthologies like Kaafiyana and literary magazines like The Scarlet Leaf Review and Thumbprint. He is currently enrolled in an 'Integrated PhD' program in Physics.