A Night of '89
Footsteps at midnight
the knock no one dared answer.
Dogs howled in silence.
Charred Bodies on the road,
eyes still open to the sky.
The crows never ask.
Posters on the wall
by morning, the faces fade.
Smoke curls from tire pyres .
Mother lights a lamp.
Her son's shoes still by the door.
She dares not whisper.
Gunfire in the dusk,
then a scream the wind carries
who will name the dead?
Red water flows past
the paddy field in full bloom.
No harvest this year.
Schoolbag on the step—
its owner taken at dawn.
Chalk dust on the floor.
Whispers fill the lane.
Even silence has been killed.
Eyes blink like shutters.
A list with red marks—
young names, crossed out by the state.
The clerk still records.
Cicadas still sing
though men hang from tamarind trees.
Life pretends to go.
Categories:
paddy field, anger, cry, death, fear,
Form: Haiku
Fourth in the Choose a Line 2 Poetry Contest
Recently,one winter morning,out of the blue,
I heard the caw of a lone crow -
Once found in flocks across our land,
Now vanished many years ago.
Its caw awakened in me the
Memories buried in the wavering wash of time.
The weather those days was fine,
Water in the ponds and rivers was pure.
Rills full of fish would twist and flow
Through the villages.
The cricket’s song at dawn and dusk,
The farmer's call in the early morning,
As he headed towards the paddy field
With a pair of bulls so charming.
His caw recalled the temple bell’s ring
From the palace shrine in early morning,
A sound that once brough heart’s delight.
Oh,the Uthum’s song on a sunny day,
And Tamna’s call at night,
No longer heard,nor seen the fireflies,
Twinkling far and near at night.
Gone are many local varieties of fish,
Plants,and greens once found in abundance
In our land.
Today, that lone caw in the air
Brought back to me the memories rare,
Yet worried for what we have lost,
Ecological balance now the cost.
Categories:
paddy field, nature,
Form: Free verse
Nimble fountain of the mountain
Soaring starry birds on the hilly peak
Greyishness blue heart of the sky
Meditated silent wind of the wood
Enchanted hut beside the streamlet
Golden paddy field, delicious foods
Everything I have, all will be mine
Nonetheless I'm unwell, anguished
No smile I have, no peace I have sheer
Happiness is far fetched golden deer
Now I want to sell everything that I have
Who will be the buyer of my anguish bane
I want to buy the smile, the peace of fate
I want to buy happiness at any cost of sane
©Mahtab Bangalee/Feb'25
Categories:
paddy field, happiness, life, peace,
Form: Free verse
On a winter evening,
along a lonely country road
I rode my bicycle and saw,
far ahead, a young couple
dressed in traditional
ceremonial clothes.
The setting sun cast it's light
as they crossed the wide paddy field,
brown with stubble,
quiet and still
May be they were returning home
from a religious ceremony,
a beautiful moment
I know will never happen again
in my life
Today, the paddy field
by the roadside is disappearing
and the road has started to buzz
with the noise of change
Categories:
paddy field, allusion, art, dad, fish,
Form: Free verse
A vision seized me, before
The marriage of my kin.
Betrothed to a faith apart,
Like a stray from the hallowed ground;
where forefathers had etched:
A devout Catholic and a pioneer,
A premonition of life truth.
I wandered through the paddy field,
Where crystal water surged;
Fishes of all sizes I had a huge catch.
Between, a river parted,
As white as a snowy flake and high;
Down and below, muddy water reaches their neck.
A laundry basket, brimming over their balanced head
I waved them to join me where abundance flowed.
But they insisted on not coming,
For they had decided their life: shallow and creek
They'd to fetch the water with a small mug.
Life's destiny weaves one's tapestry
And no external forces can confine us.
Categories:
paddy field, confidence, desire, destiny,
Form: Free verse
Pea green paddy field
Plays with damp emerald fogs
Hopes kiss of dawn sun
©Mahtab Bangalee
-January 28, 2023
Categories:
paddy field, day, winter,
Form: Haiku
She has finally come with snowy sister. Month of showy harvest too I followed my dad like a little lamb To see the pregnant paddy field
Who is ready to yield
Categories:
paddy field, 5th grade, roses are
Form: Rhyme
waters of Spring
in the paddy field-
green shoots in my heart
NOTE-HI-KU is any English language variation on the Japanese haiku
Categories:
paddy field, poetry, word play,
Form: Haiku
Emerald green that shines on
gleaming green jewel bug
Algae green of the serene pond
And there swim the shoveler ducks
Harlequin green from areca leaves pinnate
Softly grins when sunrays gently penetrate
And the dark green on betel leaves
Oh ho, the deep red on tongue it leaves
Light green of the Mandevilla
That climbs high to shine bright
Mixed hues of the leaves of taro root
And turquoise green on the crystal clear Lake
O! The iridescent green hues
of peafowls whose vibrant colors ooze
off his pretty long feathers,
Do I need to apprise further?
Green paddy field glares
And sways like a girl's hair
Teal green from singing river
Accumulates minerals and delivers
Did I mention the grass green?
Hey! Isn't our earth's screen?
Raising that lustrous curtain,
unfolds vivid scene by scene
Our earth breaths through these shades of green
Without these green, there is no pleasant scenes
Categories:
paddy field, earth, green, happiness,
Form: Rhyme
In the countryside,serene and wide
Sprawling paddy fields on either side.
Yet,day by day, they fade away,
As the charms of nature begin to sway.
Houses rise where once greenery grew
Schools and brick fields now claim their due.
Tenant farmers toil with heavy hearts
As their cherished lands are torn apart.
Once rich in rice, the fields decline
As construction takes what was once thine.
The roadside bushes, a memory lost
And chongas(jungle myna) pecking now bear the cost.
Tarnishing the village where life was once thrived
The lovely paddy fields that grace the way
Are vanishing slowly day by day.
.
Categories:
paddy field, nature,
Form: Verse
I rambled once, riding my bicycle
on a foggy day of winter.
The fog remained suspended long in the atmosphere -
so impatient I to go out,
for such a weather decades not seen.
Going farther and farther,
excited seeing the veiled country
on a lonesome village road not seen before,
the fogs dissipated; evening sun appeared
giving a pleasant apricity .
The countryside was calm, and gentle -
sprawling paddy fields, brown with stubble,
on both sides of the quiet, and peaceful road.
To the east, they stretched to the foot of the distant Blue Hill;
a grove of trees in the middle,
mist resting still at its foot,
while a few clouds seen floating above the brae,
top and above the idyllic blue hill.
There, a moment, I longed to sit
by the paddy field under the tree,
branches wide spreading
with a maiden of my imagination long ago.
Categories:
paddy field, nature, western,
Form: Free verse
Loneliness is lost ------
to see or touch the swing of the paddy
sheaf in the green paddy field at noon,
Or,
when the rain and the sun meet,
the rainbow is visible from the balcony ;
Or
when sitting in front of the window
the fallen story seems alive .
Loneliness is lost ------
In the afternoon see the dynamic view
of the dried leaves on the pond ,
Or,
when the twinkling lights of the stars
light up in the darkness of night ,
Because they are all your silent partner.
Categories:
paddy field, loneliness, lonely, love, stars,
Form: Free verse
In the wall-less room
I dream golden paddy field
Flying as the child kite
From the rain mountain
I drink natural water
Calmness comes in heart
Embroidered the sky
Fearless blue instead of death
Calling dream to life
05.04.2020 (Chattogram City)
Categories:
paddy field, feelings,
Form: Senryu
Rice seedlings in hand, I transplant rice in the paddy field,
And as I lower my head I see the sky that water does yield.
For a good harvest, the roots must be kept pure and clean,
Moving forward is what stepping back does really mean.
(tran.)
Categories:
paddy field, metaphor, philosophy,
Form: Rhyme
On the wind,a bell
Muffled from across the square
Raindrops fill the air
on the lawn
as summer draws to its close
lily petals timeworn
kissing-gate swinging-
eternally hitched to you
my heartfelt love
shadows in the sky-
fluttering across my eye
a brown butterfly
the country stile
hedged the wild flower meadow
where I sit awhile
he dusted the album-
a memory of love
trickled down his cheek
out of the blue
the honey bee
sings with delight
nearby in sunshine
a blackberry blossoms
winter's summer pudding
in the silence
my thoughts plod the path
of yesteryear
In my old calendar
her yesterdays-
in tears I reminesce
waters of Spring
in the paddy field-
green shoots in my heart
Categories:
paddy field, poetry,
Form: Haiku
Related Poems