Desert Mirage by Srinjay Chakravarti

Mosques and palaces,
towers, turrets, miradors
etched shimmeringly

in bas-relief.
Sun and air
act as conjurors.

The haze dislimns
date trees and dunes,
the breeze stained

with smoking sand.
There is more to it
than meets the eye:

mirage or oasis,
illusion or thirst.


Srinjay Chakravarti, Calcutta, India.

This poem was first published in DONGA (South Africa). It has been republished in DALITYAPI UNPOEMED: MAKATA (the Philippines).