Two Poems by Geetanjali Borkotoky

A Phone Call

A phone call has a life giving power. 

A phone call may have
The source of a short fiction. 

A phone call may create rapport. 

A phone call may illuminate 
The dark room of an old home.

Loneliness may be dispelled 
By a phone call. 

A phone call may end a war
And negotiate a treaty. 

A phone call may enliven 
A dead city, a sigh
And a dead dream
A dried river
And a withered leaf. 

A phone call can
Negotiate a peace talk.

In Losing Words

For quite a few days
I have suffered from absence of words. 
My thoughts, my soul, my consciousness 
Are all buried in the dust.
I sit clasping barren time.

Words spiral out
In curls of smoke.

Void is unendurable 
I am upset
By non fulfillment. 

I strike myself
With a sharp weapon
Scrutinize myself closely.

Where are the words basking in the sun
In a flowing river
On the wings of the birds
Or on the red flowers of Fagun?

I need them
To communicate love.

[Translated by Ananda Bormudoi]

Geetanjali Borkotoky is a young Assamese poet based in Namrup, Assam.

Click here to read original Assamese poems

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