The Taming of a Wild Anger by Deepak K Choudhary

'Over the years,

I’ve learnt to

Domesticate

My anger

As a reliable pet

When I got it raw

From the wild,

It used to bark at

Every passer-by

Now,

It has mastered

The craft of concealing

Its outbursts

Under the gestures of

Shoulder-shrugging urbanity

My anger knows

When and where to smile,

When and where to say

Sorry,

When and where to harden and shout,

Or to soften and sing,

Where to be high

And where to be low

During the conversations

Enclosing

Go-getting concerns

Over the years,

My anger has learnt

To step into

The pacifist shoes,

Grow in resilience,

Relish verities and

Fallacies

With identical indifference

Now,

My anger has

The patience to wait

For the right time

To go out of me and explode'

© DEEPAK DARSHAK (From my next poetry book, "IF ANYTHING LIKE WAR HAPPENS")

Senior Editor, Author & Poet: Deepak K Choudhary

Deepak K. Choudhary is a Delhi-based multilingual litterateur, content creator, editor and translator with a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University. A maverick versifier, as he loves to call himself, he has a curious heart and perceptive eye for life’s multifaceted proscenium and its volatile settings, its seething helms and layered peripheries, enabling him to undertake an engrossing journey through multiple spheres of existence replete with their own narratives and effervescent galaxy of icons, iconoclasts and freaks.

His poems have been featured in a number of literary journals and magazines such as The South Asian Ensemble, Indian Literature, Chrysanthemum Chronicles, Vigil Pub Magazine, INNSAEI, Samakaleen Bharatiya Sahitya, Gagananchal, etc. His two poetry books in English (solo anthologies of poems) titled BIRDS LIKE US and THE CITY NEVER SLEEPS came out in July 2018 and August 2020, respectively. Two other books that are slated for release include his third collection of poems named MOONS, MIRRORS AND MONOLOGUES…’; and his maiden collection of belles-lettres, A PEN-PUSHER’S SCRAPBOOK.

Currently, he is associated with Chrysanthemum Chronicles, the New Delhi-based literary group and publishing platform, as a Senior House Editor.