Mirthless town, if your wish I ever could grant,
A tiny river may well be all you'll want,
   -Whose tears perhaps would wash your smouldered soul,
And make the night stars snuggle up close and loll,
   Quivers in hardened, frozen shadows it'd arouse
   And turn them into a miracle's fleeting spouse.
The mirthless town has lost track of the date
She had a river. A drain today's her mate.

Mirthless town, perchance if your needs I probed,
For a cloud or two you might have just implored,
   -Your grimy sky the clouds would partly screen,
   With kindness blend the scorching sunrays' sheen,
   Timid longings perched on the wings of a kite
   Rubbed by the softness of clouds they'd go on a flight.
The mirthless town can't recall the time anymore
When in mires it lost the clouds that used to soar.

 
Translation-cum-transcreation of a Bengali poem দুঃখী নগর (dukkhi nagar, meaning Mirthless Town) by Premendra Mitra. The poem was published in his collection হরিণ-চিতা-চিল (horin-chita-chil, meaning The Deer-The Leopard-The Kite).