Issue: Vol. V, No. 2, August-October, 2026
Shortleaf spikesedge
Based on Anuradha Sharma Pujari’s novel ‘Kanchan’.
A yellow corpse glittered
In the light of the lamp
Amidst the curtail of mist
Disheveled, vacant look
Behind the lifeless body
Daisy coloured shiver.
The time is not hers now
Poems pierced by the bullet like words
Darkness embracing itself
Where have her peals of laughter gone
The trembling of yearning of nimble fingers
The groans and whimpers
Arising out of shaking from the depth of the earth
Got stuck in a thorny bush
Jackal don’t come at night
Will make diya cutting your ears
Where has that golden childhood gone missing
The purposeless tome of today
Enveloped by insomnia fatigue and tiredness
Her sky is the same today also
A tiny hut with a couple of arecanut trees
Moves around hopping in a one legged race
Weaver birds nest hanging from the two eyes
Broken address
Half-open window
Ajar door
New attires
Knock of sorrow everyday
Kanchan blooming in the Sunshine of the open field
Now an open room
Flock of Kite dives to catch
Golden-silver fish of her dream
She is henna leaf
Grinds on the grindstone a green belel leaf
Both hands get tinged red
No one sees the fountain of unexpected sorrow
She is the die of the game of dice of Shakuni
But not a dead rivulet yet
She is steel
Beaten up after taking out fire of forge
She is kanchan
Getting smeared in mud and sludge
She lay strewn in the yard emitting fragrance
Not finding oneself
Looking at own reflection in water
She is keyaban
Taken out if stuck to cloth
Needed as medicine for the ailing
……………………….
Kanchan: Bauhinia acuminate.
Shakuni: Only surviving brother of Gandhari; who was responsible for annihilation of Kuru family; a famous character of the Mahabharata.
Keyaban: Shortleaf spikesedge.
Translated by Bibekananda Choudhury
Geetanjali Borkotoky is an Assamese poet based in Namrup, Assam. She has published two collections of poems. Shamukar Kholat Shui Ase Chaharkhan is her latest collection.
Bibekananda Choudhury is a writer and translator based in Guwahati, Assam.