A rollerback and ballpoint, smartly standing
inside the holder, flash their dignity.
Illegible and lengthy roughwork, scrawled
on sheets, hint at a poem still expanding
or old stuff being polished thoroughly.
Upon this cropland, labour’s never stalled.

Two well-stacked books of minstrels from the past
refill this poet’s mental inventory
when it’s devoid of stock. Some letters, furled
and kept inside his drawer tell: he’s amassed
a tonne of publications and the glory
extended by the literary world.

Some white scrunched pages in the waste bin say
discontent looms at times. The gooseneck lamp
confesses how it stayed up with him through
the nights bereft of words. What takes away
such great distress? What remedy revamps
his mind? Perhaps the ashtray gives a clue.

*****

‘A Poet’s Desk’ was originally published in Orbis.

Shamik Banerjee is a poet from Assam, India. He currently resides in Gurgaon, Haryana. Some of his recent publications include Spelt, Ink Sweat & Tears, St. Austin, San Antonio Review, Sheepshead Review, The Trinity Review, Third Wednesday, and Amethyst Review among others. He secured second position in the Southern Shakespeare Company Sonnet Contest, 2024, and was nominated for the Best of the Net by Flapper Press.

Image by RHL and ChatGPT.