I Had To Leave

When the humour dries
The words rebound
From their meanings
Not easily ignored
When the conversations
Do not linger like smog
Over the municipal blocks
But cut like a blade of fire
It is time to travel on wire
Without apology or explanation
There is nothing that can revert
One’s position to the original high
The starting point
Of an onward journey
The varying levels of grounds
Sometimes home and sometimes away
At home in exile and exiled at home




ABOUT THE POET ~
Subash Misra is a poet, development worker and UNICEF staff., Subhash Misra's book Gangasmriti & Other Poems was published by Writers Workshop, Kolkata, India. Columnist Khushwant Singh wrote, "We have a new talented poet joining the band of Ganga worshippers. Subhash Misra was born on its banks at Mirzapur, educated on its banks at Varanasi and made his livelihood in Calcutta by the Hoogly. In his collection of poems, Gangasmriti & Other Poems, he goes ecstatic in praise of Srishti: The Creation, I was born on the banks of another river/ Another name for self and all of us/ I was not born in these plains — watching your slide/ Nor did I arise where the barriers to meditation/ Are left behind. If you are looking for the root/ You will find it in 'I' and Us. That is where/ My ancient land was before it became country, / Nation, state, date and repeatedly rewritten history., Later, from the maturing rhyme/ From the earliest of all times/ You awoke us/ Making your own sand and smiles/ Creating your own gods, grains and grass/ Gliding gently, dashing wildly, turning seductively/ Reclining piously on flowers and brass/ From sweating snows to sleepy morning dew/ From hot and humid days to a regional blue."[1], Subhash Misra has worked for UNICEF and has headed the Tsunami Recovery Program in Andaman & Nicobar[2] and then contributed to the Afghanistan National Development Strategy as an adviser with UNDP, Kabul. He started the development organisation OASES in 1982. Subhash Misra has also contributed personal experiences to various Indian newspapers. He is currently working for UNICEF, Iraq.


Last updated September 11, 2015