Issue: Vol. IV, No. 2, August-October, 2025
Another River of Saline Water
Another river of saline water is flowing upstream
Unnoticed inside the river
The evening comes dropping like rain
There are clouds in the heart
Like those in the sky
Conversations
Slightly yellow and like smoke
The essence of an unknown sorrow spreads all around
A village far away
What is there far beyond
What is there on the other bank
May be a discoloured song
Or the picture of a forest
Or the yearning of a river
In the silence of the sky
Burns a bright star
And nothing else
Being Turned into a Tree with Deep Shadow
Words arose from my heart
Making prevail pleasant stillness all around
The desert wetted in forest fragrance
Intimacy developed with the words
They prevailed upon all my belongings
Almira, reading table, books and everything else
The days passed on smoothly
It was beautiful all around
Things happened unexpectedly
One after another
Painful and unbelievable
The gateway to another world opened
Time delivered to me
A blood stained book
I turned over pages in great astonishment
And read tales merciless
Of simple and plain autobiography
Sighs and tears flowed on from the graveyard
The words nurtured with love and trust
Changed hues and meaning
Being speechless
I raised a blurred terrible flag.
No word is beside me now
All are dead
I am standing all alone in solitude
Turned into a tree
With a deep shadow
Translated by Ananda Bormudoi
Sarifa Khatoon Chowdhury is an Assamese poet and novelist based in Doomdooma, Assam. She has two collections of poems to her credit. She is a Consulting Editor of PWF.