Two Poems by Rimi Nath

By Rimi Nath

Bookstores                                                                                                    

Along the bookstores in Panbazar
With a list of books in my hand
And a heart filled with tender nostalgia
I saunter
On a warm wintry afternoon
I choose to forsake online stores
And buy books with no discounts
I skim through one bookstore and then another
Where are the books?
An old storekeeper, kind and refined,
Sadly says, “Poetry does not sell.”
I come back buying a few pens instead.

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Uzanbazar and Brahmaputra

Uzanbazar and Brahmaputra narrate the age old tales
Of hatred and bloodshed
They recount tales of people who claim to love them
But fail to love one another

The river bleeds at times and Uzanbazar stands there as a long-suffering witness

Sometimes they seek solace in the love that lovers exhibit in the park
While, at times, they hiss at the lovers
And try to chide them away
As cameras try to malign their holding hands
On a Valentine’s Day.

Picture credit: Flickr

Bio:
Rimi Nath is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya, India. Her research interests include Indian Writing in English, South Asian Literature, Partition Studies and Diaspora/Migration Studies. She is also engaged in creative writing and has published her poems in journals like Muse India, Yendai, Coldnoon, Setu, among others. She can be contacted at riminath664@gmail.com

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