Kabin Phukan
Your savoury fragrant Phalguna
Its breath's warmth, its stirring heat
The opulence of its lips and fingers
Its moist incorporeality and body
Send my mind's mist
My body's winter
Flying afar...
The gloss of the Mahua blooms
The honeyed voice
The soft bodily touch
The smile's swing on the chubby bosom
Melting and dissolving the woes of Paush
Cuddle me with songs and trillings...
Your Phalguna draws my Bohag
Closer and closer
..............................................
Phalguna : eleventh month of the Indian year (February-March)
Bohag : first month of the Assamese year (April-May) heralding spring
Paush : ninth month of the Indian year (December-January)
Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua
Kabin Phukan (b. 1946-d. 2011) was a noted Assamese poet and critic. He received Sahitya Akademi posthumously for his collection of Assamese poems Ei Anuragi Ei Udasi in 2011.
Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.