What Sin Would Redeem Me Poem by Nirmalendu Goon

I have never tasted the fruit
of the forbidden tree,
I have been waiting. waiting.
like the sea that waits for the river,
or the river for the surging tide,
in the remote hope
that a feeling would curt up
from within the rocks
and set my heart ablaze with passion.

I have never been to a brothel,
nor ever wallowed in that forbidden pleasure,
I have been waiting, waiting -
I like the revolution that brews and simmers
and waits impatiently for the climactic hour,
or like the heaving bosom of a young maiden
awaiting her first love.

I have never slept with any pleasure girl
in the hope
that love, like the sea monster
churning the sea in a violent mating duel,
would teach me the art.

Tell me, O wise soul, please do,
what sin would redeem me.

[Translated by M. Harunur Rashi]