Boats on the River – a reprise

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Here, on the Hooghly’s banks

I stare at bridge of steel

But then, I find

Three wooden boats of yesterday

Bobbing on the waters

As if afloat on waves of time


How long before you drown

I ask; the boats stay serene

Inside, kerosene lamps burn

While fishermen huddle in winter’s shawl

As dusk kisses my city

In the breath of a wispy smog


‘But we will remain, don’t you see?

Long after the sheet of night

Drapes the city of lights,’

The boats dissolve in the dark,

Whispering their names as they go –

Sutanoti, Gobindopur, Kolikata…


29th April, 2026

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