Suddenly four cannons in four corners
of the square field fired, in tandem.
& we ran towards the middle
of the field,
with a big radio set on shoulder.
Viv Richards was a cannon,
solid & aggressive.
& we, Madan Lals & Kapil Devs
were speeding with the red ball.
After some time, Sandip Patil smashed
& the ball went up & up
& we ran to catch it; we ran …
But the ball was snatched by the
vast orange above, & kept as an
eternal secret.
Evening descended on town.
Boys got back home
on their wings;
& got lost in vast orange
or black; —-
forever.
Aneek Chatterjee is a poet and academic from Kolkata, India. He has been published in reputed literary magazines and anthologies across the globe. He authored 14 books including three poetry collections and a novel. His third poetry collection “of Ashes and Persiflage” (New Delhi and Kolkata, Hawakal) came out in November, 2020. Chatterjee has a Ph.D. in International Relations; and has been teaching in leading Indian and foreign universities. He was a Fulbright Visiting faculty at the University of Virginia, USA and a recipient of the prestigious ICCR Chair to teach abroad. His poetry has been archived at Yale University.