Poetry 2015 Shortlist, Saptarshi Dutt

dear destroyer

i wanted to write a poem,
remind you

that there was once 

a young girl
whose whole world sat
in the nicotine-stained
palms of your hands,

that i was the one
that placed my world
into your grasp-

it’s not your fault,
i did not ask

tell you that it’s okay,

that gods are sometimes
destroyers too
and even lords
have jobs to do

but even words are fickle
in my fingers;
clumsy meanings
can only get mixed up

feelings linger
in a place
that time and i
can’t seem to touch

there’s so much
i cannot say
and even if you were
the type to read poetry

you wouldn’t read mine
anyway

and maybe i should ask
why i’m persistently pretending
i can write a poem about you
with a happy ending