Assassin

by Gopal Lahiri / July 5th, 2026

It’s the assassin, not the soft sunlight,
who wakes you up early,
peeling you from the darkness, leaving the strands 
of your thin hairs on the pillow,
lifting off your blankets,
leading you down long staircases
throw into the pavement,
you will obey
by moving your feet. 
where others are running, waving
a hand, a shining mirror,
where the alleys will be again be renamed by shoes
walking on, the tarmac
holds your face in its darkest veins
you will go on fighting till the end.

Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer and translator with 29 books published, including eight solo/jointly edited books. His poetry and prose are published across more than seventy journals and anthologies globally. His poems are translated in 16 languages. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021. He has received Setu Excellence Award, Pittsburgh, US, in poetry. He is the first recipient of Jayanta Mahapatra National Award for Literature, 2024. Read other articles by Gopal.

This article was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2026 at 8:00am and is filed under Poetry.