Swayam Prashant (pen name of Dr. Prashanta Kumar Sahoo) was born in the undivided Cuttack district, Odisha. He was formerly an Associate Professor of English at Sarupathar College, Assam, India. He has written ten books . They are : Evaluation of Textbooks in the Teaching of English; Values in Life ; Knowledge Tree (miscellaneous prose writings); Haiku from the Garden of My Own (poetry); Live Like A Man (poetry); Premras Amrit (poetry in Assamese); Virgin Land Impregnated (a thematic study of Canadian folk songs); Joy of Love (a unique booklet of love poems), Heart of Love (poetry) (published in USA in 2023) and The Sky Conquerors (2024). Several of his poems have also been published in poetry anthologies and journals like Open Skies Quarterly (USA), Impspired Magazine (UK), Raven Cage (Germany), The Year of the Poet (USA), etc.

The Rains

You had told me you would come
when the rains came.
Now the sky is full of black clouds
the hills resound with thunder and lightning
I am looking through the window
I see pairs of birds in the soaking rain
showing fondness and love for each other
and pairs of flowers swinging together in the wind.

When rain comes it is your dark hair I see, not the clouds
it is your sparkling eyes I see, not the lightning
and it is your sweet voice I hear, not the thunder.
I am still waiting for you, O my dear,
You had told me you would come 
when the  rains came.

Fire in Flesh 

Body flowers
into
patterns of sky
and smiles
roses
afire

songs break 
into
silence of waves
and symmetry 
grows into 
desire

My Mother

He asked me,
“Who is the most beautiful woman in the world ?”
I replied,
“My mother”.
He asked me,
“Who is the most lovable woman in the world ?”
I replied,
“My mother.”
He asked me,
Who is the most loving woman in the world ?”
I replied,
“My mother.”
And he asked,
“Who is the greatest woman in the world ?”
I replied,
“My mother.”
And the Lord
nodded.