Kalpna Singh-Chitnis


 

Contemplation on Seasons

1.

Spring came, a flower blossomed all summer,
now the fall is here and the flower is gone.
The fragrance is still around.

2.

I kept the roses you sent
and threw away the thorns.
And that was the end of my love story.

3.

Raindrops on the branches of a tree
like the teardrops of your sufferings unknown,
my garden surviving a thunderstorm…

4.

And the cloud said to the earth –
look at you,
the rain drops on your face are mine.

5.

Broken wings, falling feathers.
A bird is shot in the air
in a deer hunting season.

6.

A furnace fueled by
the rage of an early winter
consumes autumn dreams.

7.

A flower falls from a tree
hit by a thunderstorm
now dragged in mud.

8.

When she spoke,
she was asked to live the myth of her silences.
What is so intriguing about a woman being silent?


Author’s Statement on Beauty

Beauty is an awareness of our true nature and being who we are. Going against our nature to become something else is void of beauty and originality. From the beginning of the universe, everything created by nature is unique. No two trees, plants and flowers are alike. A tree never tries to compete with another tree. A flower never tries to be like another flower. A river never changes its course or accelerates pace to keep up with another river. Nor do they seek acceptance or worry about rejections. But the humans do, and by doing so, we are losing harmony and peace within; leading ourselves to the path of chaos and self-destruction. Beauty is rising above the conflicts of acceptance and rejection by others and ourselves. It is about focusing on “being” than “becoming” to experience the beauty of life.


Kalpna Singh-Chitnis is an Indo-American poet, writer, actor and filmmaker. She received a masters degree in Political Science from Magadh University, Bodhgaya, India, and studied Film Directing at New York Film Academy in Hollywood. She taught International Relations to postgraduate students in India, before moving to the United States. Author of Bare Soul, a poetry collection in English, nominated for 2017 “Naji Naaman Literary Award” and three collections of poems in Hindi, she won the prestigious “Bihar Rajbhasha Award” given by the government of Bihar, India, for her first poetry collection Chand Ka Paivand (Patch of Moon), before she was twenty one, and was given the title of “Bihar Shri” (Jewel of Bihar) in 1988. She also received “Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award” in 2014 for her contributions to literature and cinema, and was nominated for “Honor of Yeast Litteraire” by Levure Litterarie magazine in Paris, France. Kalpna’s work has been widely published and translated into many languages. Her English poetry collection, Bare Soul has been translated into Arabic by poet and translator Nizar Sartawi. She is also the creator and editor of “Life and Legends” literary journal. More at: kalpnasinghchitnis.com .