Poetry

Break the Wheel We Built

Dr Ranbir LaishramWe point at the throne,blame shadows in the crown—leaders we hoisted high with votes,like prayers that go unheard.Our own hands,shaking with hope,carved their scepters from our dreams—only to kneel again,feeding the systemtha..

Awaken Zeal

Tourangbam JeniferThe breeze twirls and dances over and overWith alluring elegant movesMurmuring everywhere it goesAs twilight falls, it roams incessantlyYet victorious and sereneBy and by its deed, the blue blue sky blushes. Leaves quiver noisilyThe Shri..

Death Unpredictable

Aribam Surjeet SharmaLike many fishes we remainSwimming down belowIn the sea of life.Like an eagle death remainHovering high aboveOver the sea of life.Without a care in the worldWe may swim about our days--Days either sunny or gloomy.Without any warning w..

Heartbeats of History

Bandana ThokchomIn whispered tales, the Greatest Generation stands,Resilient hearts, weathered by time’s demands.Their stories echo, trials faced with grace,A legacy of courage, etched in time’s embrace.The Silent Generation, born of hardship&..

Tears of Loktak Lake

Dr Ranbir LaishramYou came with laughter,joy blooming in your hearts,seeking a holiday's delighton my sacred, silent shores—once untouched by human hands.But you know notwhat you do.You scatter your cheer,yet leave scars in your wake:cluttering my w..

A domesticated husband

Surjeet AribamSitting quietly in morning quietnessAnd thinking quietly in pervasive quietnessAbout some quotes from the Gita :"Do your duty without looking for fruit""Mind is your greatest friendAs well as your greatest enemy"--I remained straining my min..

Manipur: Forward in the Dark

Randhir ThiyamForward we march—into a cave that calls itself home.No mapNo compassNo plan worth naming.Just the stubborn choreographyof push and pull,a nation dragging its own childrenby the collar of history.The river runs red—not with sunset..

Papa, Papa, I am home

Chongtham RonikumarPapa, Papa, I am home,From the school where I did attendWith my sisters and brothersLaughing and playing loudly.Full of mischief, full of fun!I jump into the Nambul river.It is not as clean as it may seem.The water tastes very bad,It ma..

The Silent Worth of Coins

Dr Ranbir LaishramOnce, I carrieda ten-paise cointo my lower primary school.At half-time,thirsty and hungry,I drank from the cool waterof the community pond,and filled my small bellywith treats boughtby that shining coin.At times it slippedthrough the hol..

Paradigm Shift

Aribam Surjeet SharmaIn the course of centuries of historyCivilizations appear and disappear,Some staying long; others briefly--Their fates decided by paradigm shift.Robust and fine is the civilizationIf it changes its fabric of paradigmFrom time to time..

Ode to the Flying Birds

Samar SalamOh, flying bird, above Nathu La’s pass,Oh, flying birds!You know no bounds, no borders to grasp.From China’s skies you came, To India’s mountain nest,A free spirit, wild and unrest.No passport needed, no ID to show,You fly whe..

Sameness

Echel AchomMaybe somewhere there’s a placeWhere everything is perfectWhere no one ever has to be upsetWhere people don’t feelWhere memories are scarce Where colour doesn’t exist Where nobody loves each otherWhere everybody is the same...

Valleys Weep: Peace Beyond Blood

Dr Ranbir LaishramSeek peace...within your heart.Never with guns.Never with force.Find it...in night’s deep silence.Pray low.To God above.Deserve it?You’ll feel it come.No guns.No rage.No blood.Peace arrives... unforced.Freedom? Justice?Not gr..

Glorification of Conquerors

Aribam Surjeet SharmaStriding across the pages of historyWith great aplomb and glitzAre many many great conquerers.What power, confidence and might!We are struck with wonder and awe.In the blazing splendor and grandeurShining out of their might and power,..

After the Curfew, We Open the Windows

Randhir ThiyamWe welcomed you—newly elected, freshly sworn,still smelling of ink and promises.A popular government, they said.So we chose hopeover habit.The long night of President’s Rulefinally packed its bags.Curfews folded like old maps.Arg..

Peace, Only Peace

Dr Ranbir LaishramPeace.Only peace.The weary soul seeks.World drowned in chaos.Forged by false glitter of arsenals.Hollow roar of might.Valleys scarred by endless fire.Rivers choked with strife's echoes.Manipur's hills whisper.Valley winds plead:Enough.Le..

Instructions for Peace

Randhir ThiyamIf you love peace,don't demand Homeland.If you love peace,don't block Highways and stop looting.If you love peace,don’t plant poppy and harvest funerals.If you love peace,don’t baptize terror and washcivilian blood with slogans.I..

Remembering an Evening with Grandma

Aribam Surjeet SharmaIt was one evening of an autumn day.Grandma, sitting under a champak treeAnd looking at me playing in the orchard,Was in contemplation, not sharing my joy.Me a little girl, and she an old woman,Our lives were to overlap only brieflyA..

Tomie

Echel AchomPeople say she she wasn’t real,That it's just a mythBut I know she’s realShe was too beautifulAnd yet she was brutalBut she served justiceAnd it should be servedMaybe she was too cruelBut isn’t that what some people deserve?..

My Broken Boat

Chongtham RonikumarIt flows downstream. Hardly upward , When storming troubles are. A thousand miles aheadOf my largest opponentIn swimming and sinking together. Many later comersMay realize my bombarded boat, Is to be taken to shore...

Truth’s Unyielding Grave

Dr Ranbir LaishramHe who distorts history,buries it deep to rewrite the score,thinks time’s his puppet,facts his to ignore.But nah.Time don’t play.It’s the world’s oldest judge,no bribes, no delays.Empires tried it—erased nam..

When Bonds Break and Spacetime Bleeds

Randhir ThiyamIn Manipur, the bonds have come undone,Once covalent with trust, now torn apart.Old lattices of kinship start to run,To entropy, decay at nature’s heart.The social solvent boils with heat and fear,Activation energy supplied by hate.Sma..

Human selfishness

Aribam Surjeet SharmaHale and hearty is the economyWhen hitched up to profit motive,The soul of capitalism.Frail and sickly is the economyWhen hitched up to social welfare,The soul of socialism.There's a noble vision in socialismA society without classes,..

Reflective Harassment Shortened

Chongtham RonikumarThe quiet silhouette of Nongyeen,An indigenous bird in Kangleipak,Stands against barriers to the full moon.Glaring at my mother,Once in my lifeI lose my temperWith safety valve to my grandfatherTo scatter unwise groundsThey should not b..

The Comfort of the Old

Dr Ranbir LaishramWhen I was young,I wanted new things,Tossed aside the worn and fadedChased after shine and style.But as the years have passed,I reach for what feels like home:A soft shirt, a scuffed pair of shoes,Familiar, gentle, known.My closet holds..

A Heart in Tension

Aribam Surjeet SharmaA strange love it is, my love for her,I can't get very much close to herAnd also I can't get away from her.Like the fulmoon remaining far away,She also remains far away from me,Although her radiance reaches meBut, it is a love that ke..

Cat and Dog

Chongtham RonikumarA female cat, poorA male dog, richIn terms of wealth and status. In my localityOpposite to my houseA beautiful cat, present. It tries to slapAt the face of the second one, Greater than this duplicate. A word has been swornBy the first s..

Amen Without Blood

Randhir ThiyamThe New Year reloads—love is the only update worth installing.Hate still runs legacy code, crashing nations on launch.Faith was meant to be a bridge, not a border checkpoint.God never asked for uniforms; conscience did the talking.Trut..

Boomerang Apocalypse

Dr Ranbir LaishramWhat goes aroundcomes around—sharp as a boomerang.WWI spins past,drags WWII in its wake.Hatred's flame, ego's fire,that immortal itch for power—they lit the fuse both times.Now WWIII brews,same route, same twisted mind.Hoarde..

Epistemology of Beauty

Aribam Surjeet SharmaI, a creature made of flesh and blood,Find the beauty of flesh and bloodIn the other gender very very irresistibleSomething biologically conditioned.Yes, some say, such beauty is skin deepAnd inner beauty issuing from the soulIs the f..

Thorns

Echel AchomThorns prick,Crimson stainsBut under the thorns Lies something better Something beautiful Something that isn’t crimsonNot pain, but something betterLife under the thorns..

Through the Mist

Randhir ThiyamWhen will the NEBULA burn off?When will it crack open?That thick cloud smothering Manipur’s map—Weather forecast says it’s a cyclone from Delhi.A fog so thick,It’s blinding the eyes of the people.When will the Centre..

Open Challenge

Chongtham Ronikumar A richer student bows to his teacher,head resting upon the twisted legs while an insect crawls, unnoticed -its sudden bite becomes his wound.The professor , startled ,feels the guilt of unseen fault,the divide and rule woven by false d..

The Stories We Leave

Dr Ranbir LaishramLife is fragile—morning dew,here at dawn, gone by noon.We are but momentsin a river's ceaseless flow.Today, we breathe, laugh, love.Tomorrow is a storyWaiting to be told.Our names fadeLike footsteps in sand.The wind comes—Era..

Circles of Life

Aribam Surjeet SharmaMoving in various circlesCircles of lifeWe are around a vortexThe vortex of oblivion.We all, irrespective of ages,Are moving at the same speed,Though in different circles,The circles shrinking and shrinkingAs the vortex pulls them inw..

Lies

Echel AchomWalls have ears,Doors have eyes Trees have voices Roses fall white And the light dies down What you thoughtwasn’t what it was everyone tells liesthat’s just that..

Last Journey

S BalakrishnanReady with baggage of all sortsI await my journey, the last. ‘Less luggage, more comfort’The railways assure me.But this is a ‘No Luggage’ travelYama Dharmaraja warns me.‘Even an eyeless needle accompanies..

The Republic in Rearview

Randhir ThiyamIndia—a vast canvas  where democracy was once painted in bold strokes.Now the colours run, thinned by money’s rain and muscle’s wind.The Constitution glows like a lantern in a room no one enters.Votes..? Swipe card, sw..

Peace Dawns: Manipur 2026

Dr Ranbir Laishram   New Year 2026.  Knocks soft. Whispers in Loktak reeds. Herons guard the shore.  No thunderfrom the hills.No war shadows.Imphal breathes—resilient hearts mend old scars.Valleys burned once.Rivers cried silent...

A Lawyer's Uneasy Conscience

Aribam Surjeet SharmaThe verdict had been deliveredAnd I had won the case,Fighting for a minister's sonAccused of killing a boy his age.Cheerful handshakesAnd warm embraces in our camp;Impotent rage, downcast eyesAnd tears in the other camp.I looked at th..

Plane

Echel AchomIs it real?It feels surreal Ears are blockedleft to see cloudsAnd wander away in your own thoughts There isn’t much factsToo much room for imaginationAll but left with memoriesOf what could have been...

Sita's Fire and My Land's Burden

Chongtham Ronikumar Why did Sita's fate Fall into the fire's core When she passed The flames of Agni - puja?I have done true things For my homeland and my people ,Yet I feel myself shrinking,Like a timid little cat,Before the judgment of the public.I keep..

Fragmented Voyage

Dr Ranbir LaishramA ship.With a thousand captains.One vision.Clear as dawn.But it drifts.Lost in waves.No harbor.No shore.Voices clash.Like storm sails.Hands pull.Wheel apart.Horizon blurs.In fractured light.Destiny fades.In pride's tide.Pause.In the roar..

Star-Crossed Love

Aribam surjeet SharmaTwo lines parallel to one anotherAre destined never to meet one another,However far you extend them,Even to the edge of the universe.Two lovers who are star-crossedAre destined never to find fruition in their love,However much they lo..

Siblings in Red

Tourangbam JeniferIn a haste , I rushed outWith a loose strap satchel. There I saw my brother standingIn a red hoodie and a satchelTwas still dark, foggy , and frostAll at once, a black bull With a sharp horn stood, Glaring at us. As we paced, it kept pac..

Notarized Silence

Randhir ThiyamThis is called war, they say—yet feels erased,A people edited out, line by line.Ethnic cleansing, whispered, then rephrasedAs “policy,” stamped with a proxy’s sign.A joint venture inked in shadows and smoke,Where sile..

The Promise to My Sister-in-Law

Chongtham Ronikumar I'm sorry for the wrong I made,I took some land I shouldn't have stayed.It was my brother's, long ago,By blood and love, I now let it go.I won't build walls to keep you out,Come to my side - there is no doubt.I 'll stand up and down fo..

Between I and We : Fragile Awakening

Dr Ranbir Laishram In the weave of survival,the breath of togetherness—between I and we.Between I and we,we live each day,searching for gentle ways.Between what endsand what begins,we hold the breaththat turns the world.The sun rises.he heart hopes...

IDPs of Manipur

Premananda MangsatabaThey call us displaced ----but this is our land.The hills, the rivers, the red earth-----they remember our footsteps even when the world forgets our names.We did not leave;We were torn away------by flames that spoke in gunfires,by fea..

Haze

Echel AchomI see tulips, The flowers waving their petalsAs if sharing a secret.And then I don’t see them I see another vivid image But it disappeared before I could register it I see grassBut why is the grass stained blood redI hear a soft whisperOr..