The Last Poem Poem by Prayag Saikia

Baitoronee
The river of blood
Can one fall in love with it
The hymns born out of anguish
Makes one remember the river Saraju
Because of its clear water
What river is that
Where my mother went down
Rowing her boat
A pair of Swallow
On the bank of the river
Sing addressing me
Its your mother's sermon
Don't tread on the path of
Aadi Kabi†
Don't put the mist of curse
Inside the crust of hymns
Pray for the well being
of the living ones
Pray for eternal peace
for the departed ones
Sadness fills the pair of Swallow
The tune of mother wafts
From an unknown Veena
A tune of the voice of prayer
At the moment before the
Boat leaves the shore
... let my Pona be blessed
Let Arindam be blessed
... Be blessed... be blessed
Here everyone is her neighbour
Let the soul of Arfatun Nessa
Be in eternal peace
It is one of her colleagues
From the abode of knowledge
Who departed a long ago
On the day of Eid-e-milad-un-nabi
The blessed breeze departs
The pair of birds
That could not be pierced by the hunter
flies away

† - Valmiki, the author of Ramayana

(Translated from original Assamese by Bibekananda Choudhury)