Alas, it is indeed a harrowing task to sit on the judgment seat. To me, every poem felt like a fragment bursting from the poet’s heart.
Some enchanted with their imagery, others with lyrical cadence, and many with their profound thoughts—making this a truly challenging experience.

After much reflection and deliberation, here are the results for the first month of Samovar Songs!
The overwhelming response truly moved us, and we are grateful beyond words.

We hope to continue this journey with renewed energy and your continued support!

Poet of the Month:
Rafiya Sayeed

Poems of the Month:
• Echoes in the Wind – Sanjay Pandita
• Hope – Mariam Roshan Zachariah

Kudos and three cheers to all!

Let me also add—every poet who submitted their work is a winner. Each poem was a literary gem.
Heartiest congratulations to all!

– Dr. Santosh Bakaya

Kashmir Pen

Poem:
Echoes in the Wind..
By Sanjay Pandita

Where does the river spill its sorrow—
into the sea, or to the sky?
Do the weeping willows drink its burden
or do they only bow and sigh?

Is the night a mourner’s whisper
or a painter’s parting dream?
Do the stars trace letters fading
or just flicker—caught between?

What if time were but a phantom
veiled in tapestries of gray
etching footsteps on the ages
only to be swept away?

Is love the hush of autumn’s
twilight
golden, trembling on the air
or the wail of winter’s hunger
aching, barren, cold, and bare?

I have wandered through the silence
where the dawn forgets to rise
where the echoes speak in riddles
wearing masks of old disguise

Tell me—does the storm regret its thunder?
Does the flame atone its sin?
Or are we all just restless whispers
chasing echoes in the wind? 

~ Sanjay Pandita is a Poet ,writer, columnist,critical Analyst from Dehradun.

Poem :
Hope
By Mariam Roshan Zachariah

So what if the sun blazed
and the moon cried into the lake –
So what if the wolf howled
and the pack relayed it around –
So what if the trees misunderstood
and bloomed too early or late –
So what if the grass still grew on …
did it mean that no one cared?
 
Just because some are bad
Breaking the piano in the quad –
Just because so many children
Are hungry and yearning love –
Just because people are warring
And doves are getting scarce –
Just because anti-socials are
prowling –
Does it mean that all is scary?
 
I am not of this world,
I am not of that world,
Yet I can be good
and humanly bad –
I am the earth
hurting with insult –
I touch the netherworld
sensing their remorse
 
I am bits of everything
I can only get better,
Hoping and ever changing

~ Roshan has always loved the artistry of surgery.  Now with age, poetry and haiku has found expression.   Her published works include – “Stitch Together and Sing Again – a rhapsody” –  a collection of her poems (2023) and contributions in “What Else Is Rain?” – an anthology of poets of Kerala origin. (2024)

Poem :
Then and Now
By Rafiya Syeed

I walked lonely in the sand,
On the bank of this brimming lake.
Ducks waddled around to take a break,
Geese preened under the willows’ stand.

I climbed a mile with pleasure,
All uphill along the forest trail.
Conifers draped the sky like a veil,
To hide the swathe of buried treasure.

I strolled around meadows in the valley,
Circled by mountains spewing waterfalls.
Sounds were like lullabies or shushing calls,
When birds sang in a choir in the tree.

The lake now is in her death throes,
Girdled by a maze of slum.
Air stinks, water is a pond scum.

About the Poet

Rafiya Sayeed – Educator & Poet

Hailing from Sopore, Rafiya Sayeed is a Gold Medalist in Zoology from Kashmir University. For the past fifteen years, she has been dedicated to nurturing young minds, working passionately with schoolchildren.

A poet at heart since childhood, she writes English poetry and also composes lullabies and children’s songs in Kashmiri and Urdu. Her work has been featured on various online literary platforms, reflecting her deep love for poetry. She remains committed to her creative journey and looks forward to becoming a published author.