Sunday, August 16, 2020

Debarati Mitra/ Afterlife and other poems/ Translated by Sourjya Roy

 



 Poems of Debarati Mitra


Translated by Sourjya Roy


1.Afterlife


I have seen Afterlife - - 

His voice, meek, oozes

Compassion and humbleness.

His face reveals glints 

Of intense light 

And tireless darkness.


Since the start, he has been saying

"Your son is not with me.

He is just a kid, probably had taken a fall somewhere,

Come here, and search.

If he sees you, he will sing for you from afar.


Let me think how far and what else we can do."



2.

The Lemon Tree of Fairytale


Life could be like the lemon tree

Of fairytale!

Where lemons stay young forever. 

They don't fall. They don't die. 

Only new lemons come

To adorn the tree with an everlasting

Viridity.


But

No one told me what happened next.

Don't want to think or know about what lies ahead.

I am just an old woman, 

With zero knowledge of philosophy or mental maths.

I only know how to live.






Debarati Mitra is a noted  Bengali poet. She has published eight collections of poetry. Her poetry is resolutely ‘modern in subject and style’. She has earned a distinctive place in Bengali literature. Her first book, Andha School e Ghanta Baje, was published in 1974. Subtle, metaphorical and delicately wrought, her poetry has been widely acclaimed. She received the Ananda Puraskar for poetry in 1995.



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