By Rajib Borah
What do I possess Except a few words? They are also either borrowed or inherited. What belongs to everybody Does not belong to me alone. I own what belongs to me exclusively. Who can survive Beyond sunshine shower and wind? Life is no arithmetic and yet Time passes as I am engrossed in doing sums. Saving from want and plenty I am growing skeptical of the future As I go ahead that also eludes Leaving me in insipid present. I shall sing a melodious song in future Song today is ignored in the process. We shall be remembered only after death The grateful actors wait for that day They donnot name us when we are alive They equate naming with defeat. They make room for the companions They assert rights over words What remains after that To belong to me?
Translated by Ananda Bormudoi
Rajib Borah is an Assamese poet, novelist and critic. He teaches Assamese literature in Nazira College, Sivsagar.