All things Language, all things Culture
I took out the trash when you left. There are metaphors for these situations but nothing comes to mind tonight. There's only eggshells and coffee grounds and crinkled yellow wrapper from that horrid food we got last week. It was oily. It gave you heartburn. I think I am losing at this. This ending thing.… Continue reading Heartburn
The void is my friend. She has come to my door after ages. I fed her. Persimmons, cheese, rice made fragrant with lime leaves. I clothed her. In blue and silver. Silk and diamond. I poured her water from a mountain spring. I read to her the scribbles I have etched on my soul every… Continue reading Anatomy of an absence
Do not name your darkness, yet. Speak soft, gently... gently... Take the long way round. Take the stair by the patio, or the passage through the backyard. Cover your lamp, stay close to the bush. Your darkness awaits by the window. It is a lovely window still, if you but squint your eyes and the… Continue reading Hush
Digging is hard work, especially if you're digging alone. The drop of sweat that, Originating from the hairline has trickled down the inevitability of your brow and now trembles upon the lash, Let it cloud your eye. No one is there to look at through the haze No hands disturbing the air, no feet pushing… Continue reading At the End of the Heart, There is Steel
In the dream, I am walking. The chain around my foot rattles like a hungry snake. Yet I am walking, floating... down the sleek black streets of my past as if there is no chain around my ankle. As if this rain-soaked evening is as fresh and untainted as the day its first memory was… Continue reading Look Elsewhere
If the gods were real, what would I ask of them? Riches, comforts, unencumbered health A home with white walls and a courtyard with trees A river to swim, a river to drown A meadow to walk without pain A release, from pain. If the gods were real, should I bow to them or accuse… Continue reading If the Gods were Real
For #EverydayTranslations Day 4, here's a translation of 'Gandar', a poem by the late and beloved Manindra Gupta.
#EverydayTranslations Day 2: A short poem by late Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman.
#EverydayTranslations I don't make resolutions. Only because I tend to fail at promises I make to myself. But this new year, I decided to change that. So I made myself the promise that I'd translate and post something on this blog every day. For how long? This month, maybe. Maybe the whole year. Maybe just… Continue reading ‘Falsehood’: A Translation of ‘Mithye’ by Sankha Ghosh
Three poems by Ritam Sen in translation. All of them can be found in the 2016 volume "Tomar Nistabdhata" published by Tritiyo Porisar.
In Other Words 