Mohona Chowdhury
Illustration by Aditi Chakraborty
In the fragrant bloom of shiuli flowers
Brought on by the October sun
And the moonlight that so sneakily peeks through my window every night
Have you realised my love,
How abundant is the colour white?
In the sandalwood scented smoke of the incense stick
And the strings of mogra that the lover brings to his beloved, seeking forgiveness after a fight
Have you realised my love?
How abundant is the colour white?
In the pristine sarees that hang in my grandmother's steel almirah
And the pages that precede the ballads the poets so fondly write
Have you realised my love,
How abundant is the colour white?
In the agonizing good and blissfully bad human traits,
And the dove's message of peace of which the world has lost all sight
Have you realised my love,
How abundant is the colour white?
How else will you emerge from the black shadows of life,
To see hope and to see light
If you don't see how abundant is the colour white?