Fisherman Poem by Pradip Saikia

[Charmed magic casements, opening
On the foam, of perilous seas…
Keats]

Who did not return
Beating the waves of the storm with his oar

Let it be etched in the plaque of roaring sleep
Another name of courage is fisherman

Stitching the salty wind in the dirty shirt
Who knows to imbibe moonlight of the fog

He who knows to blow
The horn of transient times
That trumpets suddenly
In love with water

They too had a home of Kahua grass full of clamour
One lovely damsel at the waterfront wearing a nose-pin

The hurricane of soul flying in the whirlpool of tornado
The name of a group of hungry people
Fisherman
That turned into fish
In the search of fish

Who did not come back
The hungry birds of the dawn
And
For the lonely firefly boats of the night
For the ominous kiss of the naked children
Searching for conch shells

# Translated from Assamese to English by: Bibekananda Chowdhury