The Resolve

The Resolve

Shamik Banerjee

Today, I saw the birds fly home
All briskly. Oh, their happy nest—
Upon some Oak bough—where they rest
Their jaded wings beneath the dome
Of blue. But what’s their home composed
Of? Haulms and grasses bound in knots?
Some withes and leaves from varying spots?
A feeble bed? The top—unclosed?
And, for their little house, they fight
All sudden, calamitous forms:
The drought-borne heat; the fatal storms;
The frost wind on a wintry night.
In spite of these, if they can find
Comfort amidst their low-spanned life,
Outbraving every testing strife,
Then why’s no strength within my mind?
I think then: during misery,
When I called out the Lord, He brought
Such bird-like strength, though I forgot
Him in times of festivity.
He showed: my home’s (His Kingdom) more
Strong than their nest and does not fade,
And that He is my strength, He made
The mighty birds a metaphor.

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Shamik Banerjee
Poet

Shamik is a poet from India. When he is not writing, he can be found strolling the hills surrounding his homestead. Some of his poems are forthcoming in The Hoogly Review and Dreich, among others.

Photography by Lance Reis