Winterreise by Sarah Das Gupta

 

Image | Kristina Chuprina

Winterreise

Wintry sunlight touches the hollow stems,

they glitter, golden pipes of Pan,

awaiting the wind’s breath

to blow light notes across the dead garden.

Leaves whirl and dance

a mad red, yellow, brown tarantella,

a danse macabre over the frozen grass.

Drops of rain hang suspended

from black, barren branches

diamonds in the ear of a dying lover.

The cruel beauty of the rose revealed,

bare stems, jagged, broken teeth

ready to sink into softly, yielding flesh,

No summer scented petals

to hide the maggot at the heart.

 

The brooding darkness of the yew

is softened by flakes of snow.

Red berries, symbol of Easter’s passion,

lie hidden in dark, spiky leaves.

Along the gutter icy daggers glint,

their brilliant iridescence

disguises the shafts stabbing downwards

into earth’s frozen heart.

Dead fronds of bracken,

skeletal fingers of autumn,

stiffen in the frosty grip

of winter

Under the stark lines of the corpse,

lies the beauty of the dying year.

 

© Sarah Das Gupta

Sarah Das Gupta

Sarah Das Gupta is an 82 year-old, handicapped poet from Cambridge, UK. She started writing poetry in 2022 after an accident which has prevented her walking more than a few metres. Her work has been published in over twenty countries. Writing has enabled her to travel and communicate with many people through words.

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