3 POEMS BY PINAKI SARKAR TRANSLATED FROM BENGALI BY PINAKI SARKAR

1.

Silence

hung above the door

something else also

Walls are rhythm

the wire is the breath

hanging on it are silence

hanging

At a moment

silence tear down and fall

Into the pond below

With a fearsome sound.

2.  Marble Boat

Marble boat

this side to that side

that side to this side

again this to that side

Moves again and again

across the huge body of water.

On the marble boat

With marble hull

Marble rower

Marble sail

Only

Passengers are human

The boatman is human

3. Moon Dance,  Dance of Woman

Dance of woman

you dance, round and round, standing at a place, shaking every part of your body

you dance, sometimes with somebody, sometimes alone

you dance, sometimes on riverside, sometime under dark sky, on moonlit

glistening sand, sometimes on seaside , sometime on the

floor of your room , with the breeze and moonlight

entering through your window. There is no child , no old man,

only you , your existence’s perfume dance around.

Light , unorganized. Haphazardly strewn on the sand.

Only a magician knows the story of your ghungru,

from where do you get this spinning rhythm.

Moon Dance

moon on the sky also dance. From one cloud to the other, open

Jumping like a white rubber ball on the dark sky. Moonlight jumps ,

from one widow to the other, from one wave to the another, from one rivulet

to the other, from one sand grain to another. From one face to another.

Only a magician knows the story of the moon’s joy,

where do the moon gets inspiration.

Dance of the woman , Moon dance

You dance, moon dances. You dance together, sometimes

on the hard ground, sometimes on the cloud.  Covering the

whole field, the sea, the river , the empty sky

the entire horizon. Hand in hand, from sky

to ground , again from ground to sky.