The winter rains 
   
   Rains appear all of a sudden
     In the middle of January
    Spilling into 
    A winter of dry coughs
    Wetted by grief
   An unseasonal spell 
   Brings it all out  
   
    
    The rains pound 
    Drowning winter bloom
   Before they slow down 
    Every now and then
    You can hear the sorrow 
    In puddles of muck in your front yard 
   Even inside your kitchen 
     
   The sound of a spatula 
    With a thin edge 
   Narrow blades 
    Without an omelet 
    Inside an empty pan
    Just flipping sadness 
   On a medium flame 

Vandana Kumar is a French teacher, translator, recruitment consultant, Indie Film Producer, cinephile and poet residing in New Delhi, India. Her poems have been published in national and international websites, journals and anthologies of repute. Her cinema articles appear regularly in ‘Just-cinema’ and ‘The Daily Eye’. She was a jury member for the ‘All India Poetry Competition’ organized by ‘Cocoa-Butter’ and also co-edited their debut print anthology that resulted from this competition. Her debut collection of poems ‘Mannequin Of Our Times’ was published in February 2023. The book has been awarded The Panorama International Book Award 2023.