Welcome to my poem collection, a journey through the myriad landscapes of emotion and introspection. It helps me to explore and heal by articulating the intricacies of life through my poetry. I am thrilled to share this exploration with you through this book.The poems have been written over the past seven years and translated during the past year. It reflects my growth as a person and a poet. Each poem tries to capture the essence of my feelings and reflections during a point in time. From the quiet whispers of nature to the loud clamor of the human heart, these poems span a wide range of themes, including love, loss, hope, introspection, and celebration of life.In “Boundaries of The Mind,” I delve into the struggle for self-realization and the journey from despair to liberation. “The Man in My Lake” reflects on betrayal and the swift changes that can potentially alter one’s core values. “Ode to Chairs” personifies an inanimate object, evoking themes of memory, neglect, and the passage of time. “Mother” portrays the essence of motherhood as a gift of immense love and sacrifice. “Lost Echoes of the Earth” laments the loss of connection to nature in the face of modern progress.I have translated a few poems into Hindi and Bangla to reach my extended family who live in various states of India. The translation took much longer than initially anticipated and turned out to be quite a learning experience for me. I have also translated some of the poems into Latin to nurture classical antiquity. I hope that readers will be able to connect with the emotions portrayed in the translated version.Writing poetry is a deeply personal endeavor, yet it tries to bridge the gap between the writer and the readers. I hope that these poems will not only convey my thoughts and feelings but will also inspire you to reflect on your own.I thank you for embarking on this poetic journey with me. Your readership brings these words to life, and for that, I am profoundly grateful.With heartfelt appreciation,

–-Ronok Ghosal

I chose the title of this book as, “Unfolded,” because from a reader’s point of view it’s a series of events from life that are slowly unfolding over a period of time. I went through a temporary depressive arc early into entering university and therefore lacked the motivation to write, eventually falling into a rut. This feeling changed this year, as I encountered new people in my life where we shared new experiences. Because of this, I was able to come out of my shell once again and really begin to live life the way it was meant to be lived, as opposed to constantly living in a bubble of worry. But nevertheless, once I re-entered the proper headspace to write, I was unable to stop myself. I came to the conclusion that I would be reflecting back on several different eras and circumstances in my life, from the perspective of someone who has grown up in the past couple of years. In this book I write about experiences filled with love, hatred, revenge, peace, fear, and hope, so I can look back at them from a place of serenity and appreciate how far I have come from them. –Sumedha Jena

The crux of her writings has been to explore varied phases of experiences she comes across ‘within’ and ‘even without’ herself on shifting from a confined family life to the ethos of a friendly yet meaningful social scenario wherein she achieves an identity of her own. There is a happy acceptance of reality as she sums up:

“carrying a part of every soul who has touched my life woven into the fabric of my being” (poem 40). I congratulate her for such an endeavor and wish her a prosperous career as a poet. — Dr Satya Shankar Mishra, Former Professor of English and Former Director, I.A.S. Coaching Centre, Govt.of Odisha, India

Long ago, in the folds and crevices of time, when an Indian-Bengali girl in West Bengal, India and a Mexican-multi-ethnic Latina girl in Texas, USA were germinating as poets, storytellers during the incubation period that generally characterizes girlhood, the essence of their words and their beings were accumulating in their consciousness, silently, yet surely. Those words, poems, monologues were in their gestation period, only to be born years later as precious pearls of their distinct identities in relation to their ethnicity, their gender roles et al. Decades later, both women as poets, artists, storytellers developed their voices in the universe as unique outbursts of culture, gender and thus, ‘WE ARE WHAT WE ARE’ was born, a manifesto of their unapologetic primal songs, a manifesto of their cumulative consciousness as women of letters.