By Navakanta Barua

If the sea asks me in the first fullmoon:
"Why do you excite me
So much from a distance?"
"This foamy enthusiasm for poetry 
Has been woken up in your heart
By my unseen kiss from far away.
Is this union from a distance not sweeter than
Pangs of separation that is near?"
If the moon refuses
Rabi Thakur will tell us.

Translated by Ananda Bormudoi

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

Click for the original Assamese poem.