If you've lost the forest
If you've lost the forest
You can create one
You can pave a path by parting the hair
You can cool your bosom with a gust of breeze
Dreams can skip over from one heart to another
In the green valley of words.
If you've lost the forest
Amid the clouds of peevishness
The flute of the heart may begin to lilt
The river may overflow with foam and froth
As in the prime of monsoon.
Dawn may be abuzz
With the cadent warbling of birds
The shilly-shallying flowers may bloom
In the localities of ideal love.
The somnolent forest beyond the bedroom window
May become a graceful and familiar compound
The hours may become ritzy
May become fickle beauty parlours
Pearls or diamonds may glow up.
The town may merge with the colours of the lips
The balmy moonlight shall smile dilly-dallying
If you've lost the forest
The organic inorganic vision of life may take shape
Your world may spring up
With a veil of coloured lustre
Come let's be dodos
I came here from that hill
On a bird's beak
Becoming a tree one day I embraced the green
The sapling laughed
For days together
I haven't been able to take a deep breath
In the concrete jungle
The passage of my breath has grown toxic
From the gas dust smoke
The sound of traffic passing by me
Day and night
Many a day has passed since I last beheld the sky
I've been scouring for the blue sky
Only the flock of birds know
On my very bosom they raise hubbubs
The woman with dreams said
Come let's be that green hill
Come let's be a downpour
Let's be a river come
Come let's be dodos
Come—
Translated by Krishna Dulal Barua
Pronobi Gogoi is an Assamese poet based in Duliajan, Tinsukia. She has published three collection of poems.
Krishna Dulal Barua is a prominent translator and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He received the Katha Award for translation in 2005.