I seek around identity among the
Collective sounds of the Earth
Yet, I wish to remain unidentified
The sky unveils even more, as
I cross Purnia, come undone the
Beauties of nature, with its
Verbose sceneries
It’s a new night, under a new sky
And it’s a new you
Sitting at the borderlines of
My known world,
Seduces me the world unseen
Calm and good
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
The dawn is effervescent
The morning fog is in self-love
The pomp of the pristine white is all around
The sun finds a little break
From monotony
Never felt the urge of being with the ‘me’
Even amidst the sights and sounds
Now, feeling it – strongly
The soil calls out to the horizon
The sky obliges, all in obligation, perhaps?
The Heaven and Earth unite to make the dawn
More pleasant, pleasant yet static
The morning markets pose a threat
To farmlands, calm and coy and unresisting
Every day, each day
Can the grass still sing?
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
When words reach my aged feebleness
They seek youth
Words deceit me with
Cunning directions, whenever I put my foot forward
After much jiggle of heart
Words do not care, even if they
Devour me to the last morsel
Words play the newly-wed bride, with
Uninhibited demands, and attain
Beauty of sobriety
After each marital break-up
Self-hate creates addictions sometimes
Addictions go skin-deep, with subtle femininity
… Thus chant the sages eternal mantras
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
Take a glance at
The solitary flower
Red and brave
Braving the harsh winter
Keeping the valley, otherwise dead, alive
All have gone home
After taking holy dips
Ask the river as well, to
Take a few dips within, as
She has gathered no less moss
I keep awake, as the
New Year arrives
Colours and expressions
Become demure
Amidst these cold waves
What we need now
A desperate plunge, as we’re
Caught together face to face, and the
Fisherman is pulling his
Fishing net
And… let us seek light under this raw sun
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
You can capture a landscape
With the longing in your eyes
Don’t frighten it, give it a little warmth
Droplets of youth will embrace you
Even in the premises of dust
Trust wasn’t there to be found
Yet you’ve blended the blooming nearness with
Kohl dripping down around
Hold it there, stay a poker-face for a while
A beginning initiates another
All my wounds have nakedly desired to
Unfurl your unharmed desires
My dear, it’s obligatory that we
Keep our heads high, when
The sky is reaching down to us
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
Let this sunshine, which lightens my face
Be transferred upon another
Let the grudges of secrecy
Take a feline plunge, and hover
The many pieces of my existence
Take wrinkled strolls along the river-bends
Only to meditate, and unite
Echoing the hopeful trends
Here, the crops just sown
Challenge the heights of the sky
The swarming colours, here, untie
Themselves to move to a new high
And, the cooing of the rail engine
Numbs all senses, and distance akin
(Translated from the original in Bengali by Tapas Ray)
Teacher of English
Kolkata, India
Nirmalya Speaks 