In Quest Of A Dream Poem by Prayag Saikia

Through the flaming fountains of light
That lie awake on the laps of the night
Like a life languishing in neglect,
Restless history
Step by step
As a sturdy steed
Begins to gallop off across the darkness.

The dreams of the weary, drowsed by sleep,
Pursue the steed
In a long train.

From a sub-conscious nauseous world
It rises
And procreates varied offsprings.

Everything ceases to be normal.
Dreams defy all restraints.
Nations race after nations;
A sturdy steed
And after it
Vigorous fancies
Of one, two and more inert people.

How archaic is this feeling
That blots out in reality
Or belongs to the unreal concept of reincarnation?

We're running helter-skelter
In quest of a dream.

I'll saddle up the steed
Which gleams in the moonless night?
And lighten the strange fatigue
Arising from scurrying in the weariness of dreams.
Even during slumbers and in lassitude
Numerous eyes twinkle
And glint in the darkness of the night.

(Translated by Krishna Dulal Baruah)