The sea yellow as the mustard blossoms
Quietly I cross
Every yellow sea
Many people do not notice
The looks – the face and eyes of
That sea vast as the sky
Nobody sees
The garden of another’s mind
The sea yellow as the mustard blossoms
Only a few people look at
A few others go through
The script of that sea
Sometimes one’s mind
Does not stay with oneself
It hovers
In the unknown sky
Not seen by anyone
Not studied by anyone.
The Cover of Sandy Sedges
At will one can read
The vast prose or verse
Of the white early autumn
The hills extend far and wide
On waters and sands
Is glowing
The modest sky arched with the rainbow
At sundown looking for
A watershed on sands
The flight of duck and teal
Proceeds breaking the horizon of clouds
The lonely moon
Is trembling
At the abandoned course of the sky
Brought up by the wind and rain
How strange this river is
Like a love poem that can be read
Again and again.
Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria
Biren Gogoi is a contemporary Assamese poet based in Dibrugarh. He has five collections of poems to his credit.
Nirendra Nath Thakuria, retired Associate Professor of English, is a translator.