Copper Coloured Time has been Slowly Changing
Copper coloured time has been slowly changing I have not heard the melody from a flute for a long time. Suddenly there was a sound A bird in the bougainvillea. My vision touched Each leaf in the forest So cool so smooth The song of the papiya resonates. I have received it as a blessing. It has been raining today.
A Zero Sticks to a Zero
I never belonged any day to anybody. They told me You are our daughter Our heart beat Our dream And it was not true. And yet that assurance Helped me to travel a long distance. And then there were none. I was told You are my beloved My dear wife A mother a house wife I was overwhelmed. But those were dialogues From a play. You are a poet A writer An artist Our inspiration. On my supposed death Mournings condolences bouquets Burning of incense. That was the most Improbable of incidents. I was desperately in search of a river And I heard the warbling of a river I went near But it was all sand. I was thirsty And I heard again that warbling And I went close to it With my palms cupped But those were all pebbles. Actually nobody belongs to nobody else Rivers are all dry. The fields and forests Are all discoloured paintings. Every day is a sum Right or wrong for life A zero sticking to a zero.
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.