Ballad of Life
Once the waves
That aspired to touch the welkin
Are now calm and quiet.
Peeping through the chink of heart,
I see the river flowing
And humming of life
Blue grief floats
On crystal water
And spread unto my eyes,
On the serene bosom of the water
I see the gradual decay of Ahin
The Ahin that once was tended
With deepest love.
At the whistling of unknown bird,
Slanting Eve
Descends on the bosom of the river.
In momentary green dream
I see
The whirlwind of progress,
Row by row
Centurion trees
Gradually descending
Down the river.
And every tree tells
Untold stories of the self
To life-giving water
Of cruel man
With dry and sandy heart.
If the Mind Yearns for Light
One day
You said
Fully engrossed,
Life
Wavering offstage
Is under threat,
Yet scarce we can ignore
This wide expanse of
Love and attachment.
Another day
You stared into the sky
And said-
Who knows, when
And whose bosom
Will burn
With the
Flame of sorrow
The mind
That yearns for light
Fickle, restless though
Like the fish
With silvery fins
Can overcome
The death
Threatening life.
At the last point of
The thousands of dark passage
Even the memory
Yearning for your
Pure sunshine
Glows with golden hue.
Translated by Nayan Jyoti Hazarika
Udoi Kumar Baruah is an Assamese poet based in Guwahati. He has published three collections of poems.
Nayan Jyoti Hazarika is an Assistant Professor, Department of English, Duliajan College, Assam.