My Dress Hangs There... Translation Of An Original Assamese Poem By Rousanara Begum Poem by Syed Ahmed Shah

My Dress Hangs There

My house was by the sea,
I love the sea.
It taught me how to nurture dreams
Within the heart;
And the constant roar of the waves
Filled my heart with longing.

Even now,
You can clearly see my ruddy reflection
On the balcony of the multistoried palatial house;
And the spectacular view of the sea
With ships passing
To and fro.

On either shore,
The statue of liberty
Announces its presence
By raising its hand.

The mighty echo
Of my muted weeping
Rings across air and sky.

My red-green dress still hangs
In the prison of your vigilant eyes!

I still long for that run-away heart of mine
That loved to gather flowers?

My severed hand, writhes in pain
Among the left-over food
Rotting in the dust bin
What does it want to say?
To whom?


The chorus of pain of those gathering
In the middle of the ruins
To save the damned earth
Or to bury it in the filth of the commode.



I understand and get ready!
Many such tender buds
Get crushed under feet and wilt
Many songs forget their beats.


Even today,
Time stands still.
The parched epochal bird
Has not flown away till now
Plainness still hangs on
The drying lines of
The mechanical world,
Just like my dress.

Ah, my hanging red-green dress!