English

 

 

BE THE FEARLESS WOMAN

 

 

Do you know

an abuse has many faces –

some defined; many more undefined

definitely familiar

but their definition is unknown

 

Since ages

words have remained lost in mind-wells

 

They cannot be drawn with a bucket

No rope is that long

No pulley that strong

 

They lie deep at the bottom

One has to dive in

collect them in the hollow of the palm

and sprinkle them on the putrid air

like holy water

 

Only then –

the steady flutter

the glimmer of teeth

of every Parvati, and Paro, and Piu

shall water the pierced chest of this earth

stitch the shattered fabric of the sky

 

 

 

 

 

 

TERRORISM

 

A common house gecko I am; my job is to shed my tail,

lose it and run away

I keep watching the light

not for its radiance,

 

but to hunt

 

The insects engage in mindless dance.

It makes my work easier

 

The lights are varied-

For each light a different prey;

for every hunt, a different joy

 

Lights in a park

Lights in a busy street

Lights in a café

Lights in a school

Lights in a temple

Lights in a mosque

Lights in a bus

Lights in a train

 

It’s radiance all around

Such dazzle, such luminance

 

Hold on! Hold on!

This is what I cannot tolerate

This is what I cannot watch

But the insect that you all are,

these do not enter your head

 

So I have to press myself into the act

to eat you all, one by one

 

And so I emerge

And, so I run away after the kill

You grapple with my tail

 

I lose it

 

And you think I am dead.

 

A common house gecko I am

My job is to shed my tail, drop it

 

and

 

grow a new one...

 

Translated by Moulinath Goswami

 

 Moulinath Goswami is a writer and translator from India.He has two collection of Bengali poems to his credit - ‘Dayal (The Merciful)’ and ‘Kuashar Tukrora (Pieces of Mist ’, apart from ‘Memoir Of A Girl ’- a collection of English translations of Bengali poems written by poet Jhelum Tribedi. He has a book of short stories written in Bengali to his credit too.