Issue: Vol. V, No. 1, May-July, 2026
Shaft of Sunlight
Earlier we atleast had a shaft of sunlight
Without paying for it.
Now even that has to be bought.
My next-door rich trader has erected
a three-storeyed mansion.
I’ve been thrust into the southern dankness.
In the late afternoon a little bit of sunlight slips in.
In the morning I need to go out
And stand in the street for the sun.
Gifts of nature
Get wrested away by humans.
Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua
Jajneswar Sharma (1906-1998) was a poet, critic and translator.
Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.