Hides Itself in the Crowd
It's strange how loneliness
Hides itself in the crowd.
The day and the night become all one.
Events and incidents
Repeatedly prove
How suffering
Keeps men alive.
The blur reminds you
There was a forest here once
And a river which got thoroughly drenched
In the rain.
The dream was realized in the green cropland.
The hands stretched out have now become stones
Feet turned into stones
And in between
The words inscribed in the heart
Keep murmuring.
I Have Been Sinking
Ornamental words have passed over my head
I am least interested in catching them.
I know that sea water is not meant for drinking
And yet I have waded in to sea water
To play with saline water.
I donot remember who stretched out a hand first
Did you or I?
I have touched and touched not
That hand of silver moonbeam.
I have been sinking
Water under my feet
Above my head.
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.