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O.P. Jha 

My Cherry 

Now I’ve fresh pieces of cherry
in the cups of playful pink-palms
and some untold honest stories
waking furiously and brewing
with an unprecedented passion
in the active cavities of my existence

now I’ve no otherwise time
for stale pieces damaging my intestine
now I’ve no interest of any shade
in the superfluous stories scratching my soul

now I recall, I’d some fresh pieces
even in my childhood with innocent smiles
but misguiding streaks caressed
by turbulent centuries pushed me
for a fanciful success, not for a blissful relief

now enjoying a piece of cherry in the present
gives me bliss I was longing in wandering decades
now I relish it in a pleasant rhythm
in a busy town bearing the stains of strangeness

my fresh pieces are like my new poems
sliding slowly from the petals spread
around the buds with possibilities
interwoven with untold stories as glow-worms
glowing in nights with the reminiscences
of hectic days and drooping as honey-combs
in the clumps nurtured in the clinks of my heart.

Peeling 

It was looking a hard stuff
in the first look,
I dared to come close to it
I touched it
caressed it
kissed it,
I whispered a sweet note
in its ears

then we came closer

in the moment of passion
I pulled the robes

in the bare moment
I found its inner red
and each seed was smiling
welcoming me as a true lover

after peeling, I found
my love is like a pomegranate.

O.P. Jha writes on love, peace, environment and social issues. His works appeared in Rigorous, Mantis, You Might Need To Hear This, Punt Volat,  Discretionary Love, In Parentheses, Shot Glass Journal, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, The Cry Lounge, The Odessa Collective Magazine, Backchannels Journal, Homer’s Odyssey, The Indian Literature, The Broken Teacup, Poetry Pacific, Five Fleas-Itchy Poetry,  By the Beach, miniMag, Iceblink Literary Magazine, Infinite Scroll, The Rome Review, Tiger Leaping Review, Aloka , Wildscape Literary, Ghudsavar, Pineberry Literary Journal, Valiant Scribe, Kelp Journal, pulplit Mag, Gabby &Min’s Review, Panorama , Quibble Quarterly, Stone of Madness Press, Midwest Zen, Hoot,  and others. His poems appeared in anthologies "We were Seeds" (from Querencia Press) and "We are Resilient" (from Valiant Scribe). He holds Ph.D. in "Translation Studies".                

© 2025 by Juice Press Magazine

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