Issue: Vol. IV, No. 3, November-January, 2025-26
Pen
Everyone says
Pen is mightier than the sword
We think
Pen can be mightier than the gun even
Pen can be wielded by the foes also
friends alike
Enemy
May not only be lying in ambush
At the border
They may be born in the house even
If the pen wielding foe is positioned inside
The civil war turns closely fought
It is just waste of energy
Whether be it a sword fight
or a gun battle
In the battle of pen
There is degeneration of culture and civilization
It is ominous
If the great generals wielding pen
happens to be empty vessels
Because
The good gets turned down easily
A high tide in the yellow sea
Signifies
A fissure in the fourth estate.
Whose Army are thou
Whose army are thou?
We are soldier of humanity!
What would you do
If winter falls in the state of humans?
Would awaken the warm Sun!
Would sun listen to you?
Definitely!
The sun was born for the mankind only
Our dreams drifts
In the current of the river where the sun descends
That is sometimes
The son of the fisherman
Some other times
The incomparable patron
Famed in the epical legend
Translated by Bibekananda Choudhury
Prayag Saikia, a physician by profession has in his credit twelve books of poetry, a collection of stories, three novels, and two novelettes in verse besides an anthology of lyrics. He is the recipient of Kalaguru Bishnu Rabha award, 2020 instituted by Asam Sahitya Sabha. Saikia writes in Assamese and his literary works have been translated into English, Bengali, Kannada, Sanskrit, Uzbek, French and Spanish.
Bibekananda Choudhury is a writer and translator based in Guwahati, Assam.