David Bates

“It ends. Good things
always end terribly,
at dawn in his arms
wrapped, silently
or— late in the night
in unchartered apartments
or hotel foyers, over a
fight. It ends. Good things
always end terribly.”
― Abhijit Sarmah, The Voice Under Silence: Poems

“The purpose of poetry is not to provide a solution or, say, to stop a war or prevent millions of people from dying, etc. Poetry can never do that. Poetry is all about keeping the dialogue alive. Poetry must bring forth, time and again, issues that need attention and are intentionally or unintentionally forgotten.”
― Abhijit Sarmah

“So old were you, Grammpa—
the last time I saw you, anaemic
You looked like the monsoon in my town.”
― Abhijit Sarmah, The Voice Under Silence: Poems

“A withering gem at the heart
Of a dying river
—Majuli”
― Abhijit Sarmah