In its stead then, you receive
A silent pool wrought just for you
A looking glass clear and painted blue
Water, light-filled, glows --
Image of a branch, flowers bowed
The fluttering sail of a violet cloud
A fulfilled heart assures --
An inward eye can all perceive.
In its stead then, you receive
Musings mundane, void and bare
Dusty feet marked paths that stare
Winds sucked dry of tears --
A distant familiar voice might call
During a midday, bereft of all
No one turns and hears.
These too did you have to leave!
_______
Translation-cum-transcreation of a classic Bengali poem বিনিময় (binimoy, meaning exchange) by Amiya Chakravarty. The poem was published around 1953 in a collection of Chakravarty’s poems entitled পারাপার (parapar, meaning ferrying across). I take this opportunity to thank my wonderful friend Surja Sankar Ray for his interpretation of the poem as well as his advice on the many drafts preceding what has been posted.
A KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD 