Three Shades of Lotus Life.

I was told to make a house of wood.

I wandered once, twice, and thrice, but saw no tree.

"Plenty of them, son," mother said.

"But if I cut them with my sickle, can I build one, Mother?"

"Yes."

Twenty-three days and five hours, I have some time left before dawn.

The house now had two members, and housed a brown swan that sleeps in silk and cotton near the kitchen.

I will bring honey bread from the country, without a worry in my head anymore.

I am teaching four children on a green ground of bees and wildflowers.

Time passed, my mother is lost, the swan even aforetime.

But I have some honey bread left for myself.

Eleven years. Two men saw my bones in shadows, pondering whether I am a friend of the ghost of their town.

"Who are you?"

"I am nobody; I want to see myself for once."

"Seldom does such a day come when we witness such a night," one said.

"Then where?" I asked in a rush.

Another pointed his elongated finger at a pond.

I ran, without another query, as I must see the look that will soon be betrayed.

I saw the reflection of the twilight, my face like a rusted plate.

Before I fell into the oblivion of black, my eyes saw mother in a lotus flower and the swan near her.

The house, the honey bread, and myself are lost.

Find me again, Mother, in your lotus flower.

- Debesh Kar