Woven Strings - A Poetry Collection by Rajashree Sengupta

1 - beating heart

Do you feel the faint thumping?
Do you feel the warmth spreading again?

Do you feel yourself breathing?
The thoughts that swirl inside your brain?

All the ways to prove that you're living,
And yet, you believe you're dead within.

Don't you see the number of cells that work tirelessly,
With only an aim of keeping you alive?

And yet, you keep believing,
There is no reason for you to thrive.

So, how about I remind you again,
Of the beating heart, you have within?

How about I tell you, that,
There's a reason why you're living?

The chance of you being here,
Was one in 400 trillion.

Well, all I'm saying, listen to your beating heart,
And thank the world to be living.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(18 January 2019)

2 - secret of beauty

The darkness grows, but the light shines through.

Lies are abundant, but there's always a truth.

Storms are scary, but there's a rainbow too!

Heartbreaks are hurtful, but love finds it's way to you.

Negativity can be undone through a positive spirit.

The positivity, hidden around is beyond infinite.

Open your heart, see the world,
For the way it was meant to be seen.

You will see the beauty, the magic,
The greedy eyes left unseen.

The darkness would recede,
The light shine through,

The storm would part,
The seven coloured bow strewn across the sky,

Lies would reveal,
The truths behind those.

Your heart would heal,
And make your life whole.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(19 January, 2019)

3 - humanity

Staring wildly, as they pass.
Terror striking straight at heart.

Comfort ceases to exist.
Panic ceases her breath.

The stares burn into her skin,
Their filthy thoughts leave a scar.

Eyes gazing down, trembling steps fall,
Hands digging deeper into her pockets.

A whistle blows, a murmur follows,
Cackling jackals howling under the stars.

A voice was raised, and then a two.
A friendly hand crept, and then another too.

Together they stood, guarding against those wolves,
Power flowed within them, blinding those with it's glow.

Humanity was lost from the wild eyes,
Those were animals, hunting women like their prey.

The brave little circle, grew slowly,
They knew their rights, they would fight come what may.

Women were no objects,
To be treated like one.

Men are no animals,
But human was none.

Lesson were to be learned,
Monstrocity to be undone.

Women to be treated with respect,
And men to act human.

The changes are to be brought within,
Paying no heed to what the world may say.

Every human is life,
We all have some rights.

Stand up, raise your voice,
Let us all put up a fight.

To save humanity, to save those innocent lives,
Victims of the wild humanity, everyday.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(20 January 2019)

4 - colours

The little girl in me,
Saw the world differently.

She had the capability,
To see the world's beauty.

She saw the pretty colours,
Of the pretty flowers.

She saw the fluffy clouds,
Floating over the house.

She sniffed the moist air,
Blowing from the grass over there.

She felt all the colours,
The world had to show.

But, the little girl in me,
Has lost her way.

She dreams all night,
And sleeps all day.

The little girl me,
Knows not how to see.

Lost her way now,
She's lost in me.

I intend to find her,
Oh, how I try!

I colour the drawing books,
Hoping she would look.

I hope to find her,
Hope to find the colours.

The world is all white now,
The little girl asleep.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(21st January 2019)

5 - snow

Glittery white, shining bright,
I have always imagined snow to be a magnificent sight.

Something I'd hold in my gloved hands,
And it would stay, unlike the unruly sand.

Have a little snow fight with my family,
Build a snow man happily.

Feel the flakes melting on my nose,
Watching the snowfall up close.

Oh, how I wish to see the snow,
Bathing in the warm sun's winter glow.

It will all remain a dream though,
As a child, I always knew.

Knew that the poles won't last,
The glaciers would soon be a thing of past.

Knew that we would all be foolish enough to throw it all away,
No matter what everyone might say.

Now some experience the extreme polar vortex,
Some are concerned with only their war debts.

Some care only to divide us all,
While islands disappear, drowning their calls.

Dreams would remain a dream,
As long as they ignore the helpless screams.

It all might just end,
While we all just pretend.

Children would all be left crying,
While they keep saying, everything is just fine.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(5th February, 2019)

6 - over 

Over and over
She tried to cover.

Each time he lied,
Trying to get away,

She forgave,
And accepted him anyway.

He had a reason for it all,
But his actions were cruel.

People have started living like bees,
So lost in their hives, reasoning has left their minds.

He reasoned his wrongs,
She hid it all from our eyes.

Oh, but truth can't stay hidden,
We knew of his actions and all his lies.

Disgusted, yet we loved,
Being disrespectful was never an option.

And, once more we started the journey,
Journey to revive our love, and to get over.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(9th March, 2019)

7 - fragment 

I had a dream last night,
It was about our fight.

You yelled out loud,
Attracting a crowd.

I broke down, crying,
Because you were yet again, lying.

My shrieks filled my ears,
You seemed hazy through my tears.

People looked on,
The night turned to dawn.

I woke up again, wondering,
The clouds, the rain, the thundering;

Was it all a lie,
Were we meant to say goodbye?

There was no answer left,
You had already carried out the theft.

You took away my everything,
You haunt my days, my nights, and even my dreams.

Those precious memories were demented,
You only left me fragmented.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(10th March 2019)

8 - lies

Lies are hidden,
But truth slips through.

Asking forbidden,
But, action speaks louder than words do.

Trust is built,
Liars don't see how.

Their eyes show their guilt,
Honesty, never found them, somehow.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(30th March 2019)

9 - miss

As each day ends,
Long friendships form a distance.

Bonds made strong with effort,
Loose the knot, with the lack of it now.

It's heartbreaking, to say the least,
Must confess that I miss them.

I miss the little chats I had with people,
Took for granted the time we spent.

Never realized that the time would end,
Didn't cherish it quite that well.

I do feel nostalgic,
I miss those days.

Oh, how I want to feel the same again,
But, I can only hope they feel it too.

The friendships lost over time,
I hope they miss me too.

Because, I have a confession to make,
I miss them, a lot, I do!

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(3rd April 2019)

10 - hope 

There's beauty in darkness,
There's brutality in brightness.

The lonely ones seek comfort in one,
And some look at the light for hope.

Like the sun hidden behind the clouds,
Their mind was fogged.

They knew no difference,
They were lost in the fragmented hollow.

The world was divided apart in two,
Leaving them out to grieve, slaves to sorrow.

They were pushed beyond the boundaries,
Their voice was never heard.

Some, though, acknowledged their presence,
But, the rest were set to cause them hurt.

This world has no hope,
No, the sun is not a symbol for that.

The sun is burning up,
Protesting the survival of these inhumane brats.

There is no good in this world,
The ones claiming to be, have a mask to unfurl.

This might be sour to process,
But, yes, that's the truth.

The world is filled with liars,
And, no, there is no hope.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(5th April 2019)

11 - nightmare 

It was a gruesome one again.
He was acting wild.

His eyes were red with rage,
And they followed my movement.

I could see that he knew.
He knew, despite my best efforts to hide from him.

I decided to take a stand,
Holding her hand tightly, I told him the truth.

Since he knew what it was,
It was necessary to know it all.

Yes, I was planning on taking her away.
Away from his filthy self.

And, yes, I was fleeing to,
Because I couldn't stand staying with him, after knowing the whole truth.

His presence disgusted me,
I was torn and shaken and to the core.

It hurt, it really did,
But nothing prepared what followed it.

I woke up gasping and out of breath,
I knew it was all a nightmare.

Though I knew nothing happened as such,
But, I was aware that it was based on the truth.

I thought about it all day long,
I lost my patience, and told her what I saw.

She smiled slightly, understanding my pain,
Yet, she sat silently, without a word.

They were here the night before,
And that moment, I knew, what happened.

It shattered me, and I must say,
I haven't felt this much pain before.

She was blending in with the filth,
While I stayed and watched, filled with guilt.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(16th April 2019)

12 - friends

The world works magic,
While we think we have it all under control.

Gullible humans, understand;
Not everything is under your comprehension.

Making decisions cautiously,
Weighing our cons and pros,
Ending up at our predestined destinations.

Reach to a conclusion,
We walk out to work on it.
And, there, mysteriously, others appear.

Apprehension, and guarding
shield builds up,
Hesitate to take a step towards the new.

Slowly the wall crumbles away,
And there it is.
The new experience engulfs you in.

You find yourself in a circle of people,
Somehow, you connect heart to heart.
You like you better.

Here we are now,
Being the real weirdos we are.
'They' becomes 'us'.

You find you, and there you are.
There you are with the new people.

There you are with your friends.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(29th July, 2019)

13 - platonic 

Words change their meanings with time,
They become symbols of our developing minds.

Earthly realities change with time,
They become old and decline.

The nature watches quietly, with time,
While the troubled souls seek to be divine.

Plato said love was beyond it all,
Not subject to the world's rise and fall.

With time, we termed this love - platonic,
Making it a part of our lives.

Now, the meaning of love has changed,
Where we all fend for ourselves.

Platonic love, now just a word, with time,
A word that only evokes sadness.

For now, we seek only physical love,
And platonic love is unworthy.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(20th August 2019)

14 - sunflower

The warmth graces me,
The light ignites me somehow.

Days pass, as I feel myself grow closer,
Facing you, over and over.

I work harder for you to notice me,
Notice how you, unknowingly, nurture me.

But, sometimes, you hide away,
And that ruins my day!

Facing down, I start to ponder,
My will to work completely lost.

I start doubting myself,
Maybe, I could face something else.

Maybe, just maybe,
You weren't everything I needed.

Ah, but then the clouds part,
Clearing my fogged heart.

Your presence sparks again that fire within,
As I feel myself take a deep breath in.

I may not know what lies beyond you,
Since my senses tie me to you;

For now, I believe your power,
Your rays lead me to imagine a forever.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
[3rd October 2019]

15 - smile

The little curve that graces your lips,
It makes me wonder;

Is it just my heart that it melts?
Do you not realize how you manage to make my heart flutter with joy, with just that small, innocent smile?

You sit there, carelessly, your arms folded,
While here I stay, embracing your presence with everything in me.

No, my heart doesn't jump out of me,
I am calm, sober, and though a little bit of a fool sometimes, but sane.

But, that is only because it's you,
Because, you manage to make it all fine.

You try to listen, you try to be yourself,
And that is what I cherish the most.

For you to be yourself, when I am myself,
Around me.

I like it how you always think so highly of me,
I don't usually feel this way.

But, I do have my doubts, you know?
I might be falling in love again.

I'm afraid that I'll break it,
Not my heart, but what if yours?

I don't usually feel this way,
But that smile, oh that smile takes my breath away.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(10th October 2019)

16 - fit-in

You don't belong here,
You stand out from the crowd.

I see how you are faking your way in,
Trying so hard to fit in!

You feel, you listen, you think,
All of which are more than anything they do.

You are sensitive, and intellectual,
Curious, and shy.

Oh dear, but with them, I see,
I see how you're trying being everything you aren't meant to be.

You try to act like you don't care,
Act as if you don't feel.

Go along their witless jokes,
Laughing and smiling, all unreal.

They force you to fit in,
Somewhere you don't belong.

You deserve a much better company,
Some people with whom you're truly happy.

Where you are comfortable and easy,
Free to be cozy and lazy.

You deserve to be treated the best,
Deserve to be the sensitive person you are in reality.

And, yet, they force you,
Force you to believe you must fit-in.

And you, my dear, try so hard,
Though they don't see it, I do.

I see you aren't happy,
I see you trying to fit in.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(5th December 2019)

17 - hanging

Quite a weird way to have told you
That you've held my heart for so long.

There's been so much happening,
I hate being in this place.

I don't understand how being nice,
It's always perceived to be wrong. 

I was just being polite and honest,
But, he saw me as naive.

He saw an easy prey,
With his predator eyes, looking deep.

I only shared my feelings for you,
He took it all, as the bait.

He tugged at my vulnerability,
And viciously told me he'd never allow 'us' to happen. 

He wanted to capture me,
And make me his.

But, he doesn't know
I've given myself to you, long ago.

You have had my heart for so long,
I don't feel it's absence anymore.

Although, anxious I am,
To know what you feel.

To know if you would trust me,
With your heart in my hands.

And, you know now,
How much I love you.

You've left me hanging to wonder,
What you feel for me.

I see no changes,
It's like you already knew.

It is as if you've long mastered,
Being the owner of my heart.

Agonizingly, I wait, I wait,
For you to understand.

To understand what you must do,
And what you feel inside you.

If you trust my void enough,
To rest yourself in it.

Whether you have the courage,
To dive into this deep sea of emotions.

Don't worry now, darling,
I don't know either.

Yet, I have trusted you,
Never knowing how to swim.

I'd not let anything hurt you,
As long as you live in my senses.

Oh, but please do tell me,
When you make that leap.

Since, I have been hanging,
By the thread of hope.

I have been waiting,
For your heart to find mine.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
17th February'20

18 - the mighty sun

The sun is a glorious beauty.
It's strength is to show us the charm in everything we see.

Like the droplets of water stuck in the leaves,
The shapeless clouds floating free.

The little potholes full of water, shimmering in the sun's glow,
The huge waves shining as they flow.

The tiny beam that seeps through the creeks of curtains,
The comforting warmth of the winter sun.

The dawn and dusk coloured with it's spectrum of light,
Oh, it really is a beholding sight.

We all are aware,
Of the sun's shining glare.

All of us have felt the immediate happiness,
As the sunlight washes away the darkness.

We take the sun for granted,
Never being able to see it with eyes naked.

We lose ourselves in our selfish days,
Knowing and believing the sun always stays.

With surity we say there will be another day tomorrow,
There will be a day to take away our sorrow.

Oh, we don't see,
We don't see.

The sun is burning,
The sun is flaring.

It is bright with the fire,
Burning away to give us this life.

How we assume the sun is the symbol of joy,
While the sun blazes with all it's glory.

It burns to give us the hope for another day,
It burns for life on Earth to stay.

Yet, we just take it all for granted,
Destroying the lives, it burns for.

If the sun feels, oh, if the sun sees,
I imagine that it would cry oceans and seas.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(29th January 2019)

19 - the two 

They are wrong.
I sit here, listening to it all.

Their expectations of me rise,
While I wait here, helplessly.

I don't know what to do.
They both want me on their side.

Heard both the sides of the story,
Easy to say, both are in the wrong.

But, though it's a similarity,
It's not enough to keep them together.

One has done so many unforgivable deeds,
Coming back, only to be forgiven.

Starting again, regaining all our trust.
The other keeps expecting the other to change.

Though, knowing change is not possible,
She hopes, he would.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(22nd March 2019)

20 - assist 

An act of kindness, from a simple heart,
Here she was thinking that she was being smart.

Long hours gone in assisting the brat,
Waiting and waiting, with patience she sat.

The moment passed, and he was gone,
And there she left again, all alone.

Over and over they told her the truth,
But, she kept denying the reality, crude.

Just a smile, a word or two he'd say,
Knowing that she was always here to stay.

Late night sleep, and precious time lost,
But, she didn't realize, at what cost?

She was being used like an old rag,
She was as important to him as a holed bag.

She knew she was worth more that this,
But, he knew how to make her feel like bliss.

In a moment, he knew he had her under his control,
And she would dance around him like a puppet doll.

Ah, what a shame, he did not see her value,
She was left wondering she deserved whatever he did do.

She, so innocently believed the tiniest expressions to be true,
Even the little smile, vanishing her blues.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(12th November 2019)

21 - hurt 

I regret giving you my heart
Just like that.

You didn't ask for it,
But I didn't realise when it started belonging to you.

Your happiness was suddenly mine,
Your smiles brightened my day!

Alas, I'm not them.
I'm not those girls who you like to chase.

I'm not that pretty, not that beautiful,
Definitely not sexy, I'm just little chubby me.

I'm not a priority for you,
You know I'm here.

And since you know, you don't care.
Taken for granted, I stay for the little amount of attention you give me.

Helping you with anything you need,
Working hard to make you happy.

I fulfill your childish demands,
Expecting absolutely nothing in return.

But, that's not what you want.
You just want those perfect girls.

You want those who don't care about you,
Those who drag along many guys like you.

While I stay here, waiting.
Waiting for the two minutes you might spare for me.

Waiting for the little smile you flash at me.
Staying up late when I want to sleep,

Only to help you,
Only to please you.

And what do you do?
Never even pick up my calls.

Leave my heartfelt texts on seen.
Easy, isn't it?

So easy for you to get what you want from me,
You use me like an old rag.

It's so easy for you to hurt me,
And never know.

You hurt me so much
Tearing me apart day by day.

But, you'd never know,
Because you're just too busy to notice, anyway.

●○●○●

Rajashree Sengupta
(16th December 2019)

22 - natural 

Marching down the trodden path of his way,
She realised that craving just wasn't enough.

He had to be commanded,
He was unable to comprehend on his own.

She had to stop them,
Stop before it all ended.

She knew he won't survive.
He was overly dependent on her.

But, even as she was falling apart,
He could not see her.

He just couldn't stop himself,
He could not help himself;

He knew how he was breaking her,
He had crossed the tip where he was supposed to sustain.

Sustainability was not going anywhere,
He aggressively kept digging away at her heart.

Oh, now that was too much for her,
She had to do something.

She had to make him realise,
He needed to gain insight.

He had to know that he needed her,
And how important she was to him.

She decided to put a stop to it all,
Pause all he knew about existing.

Making herself flourish again,
She gained back her place in his life.

All that was needed was a massive threat,
A threat to his life.

An accusation to his ways of existing,
And he was stumbling.

Parts of him dying out,
He had to stop.

He was falling apart,
Oh, what had he done!

He hid behind his own creations,
Watching her live again.

And, struck he was again,
By her radiant beauty.

He prayed for her to stop the torment,
Stop her from stopping him.

She needed her time though,
The damage was too deep.

Her unseen weapon was only a taste,
A taste of what she had been going through for so long.

Now, she stood in her glory,
And humanity paused all it's activities.

Karma was indeed a reality now,
Nature had finally found a to get back at the mankind.

●○●○●

A poem written during the pandemic :)

Rajashree Sengupta
(17th April 2020)

the end