O.P. Jha’s poems and fictions appeared in journals like The Indian Literature, The Daily Tribune, Rigorous, Mantis, You Might Need To Hear This, Punt Volat, Zoetic Press, Discretionary Love, In Parentheses , Shot Glass Journal and others. His poems have been selected by The Elevation Review and The LKMNDS podcast. He is the author of an inspiring book Management Guru Lord Krishna. He has a Doctoral degree in “Translation Studies”.

Email: opjha189@yahoo.com , twitter: @OP Jha17

IN-BETWEEN + MORE

march 7, 2024

dedication: Mamta Jha

In the night, in my dream

I was searching my love

with all my means and skills

I was searching and recalling

some lovely moments I’d passed

with her in the first spring

after a tiresome exercise

I found her seated in a remote corner,

I was tired and looking weak

but I lifted her up

in my arms at once

to us this reunion was a new life

we wept, smiled and returned home,

when I woke up

I narrated my dream to her

she smiled and after a pause,

she said, “Everyone searches something

and some lucky souls find it”

with this, something disappeared from me

and something came to me

between my night and my day

between my dream and my reality

many worlds appear

many worlds disappear

a story concludes with a poem

a poem sinks into a story

between the ups and downs

many bubbles are formed

many bubbles burst

between the formation and the burst

there’s susurration – of love

that runs in my blood

and sings in my breaths.

IN-BETWEEN

Roaming on beaches I saw

rising and falling tides

hilarious souls rowing against waves

and ships loaded with many goods

treading on the sand

holding the hands of my sweet-heart

in a costume covering little, opening much

I left the diurnal discourses far behind

exploring the deep blue water

I found it was a desire in the day

and a dream in the night

dwelling in my curious heart

all the games on land

passionate feats in air

and agitated dives in water

that I learnt from my ancestors

raised their heads but I moved ahead

brushing my soul in surfing tides

I played some notes on succulent lips

forgot some worn out whims

in a luxuriant kiss.

BLISSFUL NOTES

Some eyes meet

some eye-lashes blink

some narrate stories with no whisper

some drink poems with no susurration

some eyes have questions

pertaining to some tenses

some eyes have answers

filling the void of some places

sitting face to face

our eyes talked in a train

as a motion-picture they revealed something

as a still-picture they hid many things

reaching the destination

we felt- we’ve to go beyond

some called it was a journey

some called it was destiny

to us it was a story in silence

an unsung humming in hearts

a poem in youthful lovely eyes

a canvas catching the rhythm of sighs.

TALKING EYES

O.P. Jha’s poems and fictions appeared in journals like The Indian Literature, The Daily Tribune, Rigorous, Mantis, You Might Need To Hear This, Punt Volat, Zoetic Press, Discretionary Love, In Parentheses , Shot Glass Journal and others. His poems have been selected by The Elevation Review and The LKMNDS podcast. He is the author of an inspiring book Management Guru Lord Krishna. He has a Doctoral degree in “Translation Studies”.

Email: opjha189@yahoo.com , twitter: @OP Jha17