Foundation Stone Its quite sometime when we opened the door Laid a foundation stone Created a festive ambience Didn’t get time off in the hubbub to think Whether things were good or bad. Not much time elapsed, there was talk of A new foundation stone, breaking or replacing the old one We didn’t understand that we had become infected, Fraught, let out sighs sweating profusely We didn’t understand time’s bidding We didn’t agree to the things that newly cropped up eons ago With moving times we saw The Golden deer of deceptive mercy and Deep dark clouds in the sky where is born the unsteady fountain. Time buries The mistakes we make in every age Remained unhurried only discriminatory keening We’ve made a rotten egg of the entire earth The earth but belonged to everyone. Its in the long past we opened the door by mistake Laying a foundation stone we became imposing Creating heaven and hell, made the journey blurry Became undifferentiable, couldn’t keep up The immortal craving.
Periphery Somebody will speak it out Like the stars glinting nightly in the bluish sky It will remain and spread How long will they remain thrifty and reticent Someone will speak it out with an open mind Will churn confidently forgetting everything, even fear of death They all know bitterness cannot be buried under sand, it remains vigilant Time,too,is irascible-- Gives little opportunity to speak it out With a pretty smile waits at a distance Like the wise Somebody will speak it out Waiting ends one day It requires seven days to muster up courage.
Translated by Uttam Dourah
Khagen Saikia is an Assamese poet, novelist and writer based in Nagaon, Assam. He has six collections of poems and six novels to his credit.
Uttam Duorah, the translator, retired as the HoD, English, Women’s College, Tinsukia and is based in Tinsukia, Assam.
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