Sumitra Kumar

A Starlit Sky

My eight-year-old son comes across the word “descendents” in his book and is curious about the new word.

“Sweetheart,” I croon, amid my evening chores, “your future son, your son’s son and so on are going to be my descendents!”

scents of spring

My daughter of three is sitting in the adjacent room watching television with her grandmother.

in the budding phase

She picks up on our little conversation with her sharp senses that have hitherto related only to the homophone of “son” as her kindergarten teacher sketched the blue yonder on the blackboard.

Wasting no time, my little munchkin rushes over to hug me, pleading between her sobs, “Amma … if he’s your sun … then … will you please … let me be your cloud?”

petals unfold

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About the Author

Sumitra Kumar’s book of free-verse poetry, Romance with Breath, is available on Amazon. Her 10-minute playscript, Back to our Eventful Lives, was ranked among the top 30 at the Short+Sweet South India Theatre Festival in 2024. Her work appears in haiku journals and free-verse anthologies. 

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