By Navakanta Barua

At night in the rains do you remember your poet 
Arundhati
The dim light making oblivious 
Of the evening smell of your bun 
Do you remember
Arundhati

In the moonlight or gloom 
In love or sadness  cryptic poems
Between us lay the unseen barriers of broken dreams 
Do you remember
Arundhati

Do you remember
The pearls on the dub grass
In the cloud of hair 
The gliding moons of the slim fingers
(For a tide there was no sea) 
Even at the touch cold as ice
How soothing it was 
Arundhati

Arundhati
An instant nest for the bird that came flying 
Braving the storm across the skies 
After a host of dreams
In the crowded snatches of sleep 
That lone sleepless night
Do you remember Arundhati

At night in the rains do you remember
Arundhati

Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria

Click here to read the original Assamese poem.

Navakanta Barua (b.1926-d.2002) was a noted Assamese poet, novelist and translator.

Nirendra Nath Thakuria, retired Associate Professor of English, is a translator.