Issue: Vol. IV, No. 2, August-October, 2025
Sing life-span sing
All of you clap your hands with doubled zest
Boosting your desire three times more
Be prepared to listen silently
One two three four four three two one
Ayushman will be here before us
Ayushman Saikia is a differently-abled child
Here he is before the microphone
What a shapely face of classical mould
Here he is touching the natural note
Advancing along the path of the musical scale
Sing sing Ayush sing the song
Making it spread all over
With the fragrance of its soothing murmur
No, don’t crowd around him
Leave a space for the song to emerge
It’s a cosmic song that fills up the sky
A song rendered by little Ayushman
The microphone hasn’t been able to hold the song aloft
The eagerness of the audience too hasn’t waned
There, Ayushman’s lips quiver perfectly
Surely Ayush is singing a song
His own song in his own voice
Only to make himself listen to it
The microphone is needlessly getting restive
Grief-stricken by its failure the instrument called the microphone
Blushes with embarrassment
Helena
Nothing is left of the city of Troy
The wooden horse is the witness of its ruin
Poet, you’ve come here
To learn about the gorgeous Helena
With the bones in hand
After digging the grave
You’ll come to nothing
Translated by Krishna Dula Barua
Anubhav Tulasi (b. 3 December, 1958-d. 1 July, 2025) was an Assamese poet, translator and film critic. He has more than fifteen collections of poems to his credit.
Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.