A Stanza On Silence (Translated From A Poem By Ruprekha Goswami) Poem by Syed Ahmed Shah

A STANZA ON SILENCE...

Today, I am going to write to my heart's content
A poem that was not meant to be written ever
The cream rising to the surface of the soul
After a violent churning of the inner self…

Today, I cannot put off writing anymore
Hopefully, this is going to be my tour de force…
I need my pen, paper, ink, chair-table
In their rightful places…

Where should I write and how should I write
In the heart, the hands, the eyelids, the lips?

I toss about on the tumultuous waves of desire
I borrow a handful of the moon beam
And force open the window to breathe easy…
I implore the impatient breeze to lure into the room
The wafting aroma of an unknown bloom…

I squeeze my heart to satiate my pen
An offering of passion before my unsteady fingers…

Then?
Then, an all pervading sea of silence
Drowns the heart...
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Ruprekha Goswami

(Translated from Assamese by Syed Ahmed Shah)