Bio
Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 29 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across various anthologies globally. His poems are translated in 16 languages. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021, He has received Setu Excellence award, US, in poetry. Recent Credit: Dreich, Catjun Mutt, Delicate Emission, Mad Swirl, Kitaab E-Zine, Indian Literature, Setu, Converse, Dissident Voice, Asia's Best Poems, Erato, and elsewhere.
Gopal Lahiri
Slow Breath
Just one way I can immerse my face in
a dreamless sleep by counting moments.
revisit wooden balcony and pull out some
deep memories beneath the ivy plants.
My dream meanders, perhaps there is a new
rising for a fur-flung destinations,
someone lights up my face with an oil lamp
shaking up the slow breath.
Lights pack the dreams in boxes and find
old letters piling below the windowsill.
I reach for the warmth of the night, now
fierce and demanding, a shawl and a cup
of coffee go together and a silver moon
enters, exits, and die in too much exposure.