Translation: Mahbub Siddiquee and Dulal Al Mansur
Around fifteen you were
and I wasn’t seventeen square
A storm rushed in after Dolpurni night, 1
that caused my pigeon’s flight.
It felt like a pendulum’s swing
Who could know that far-fetched fling!
For the first time, I loved a river
For the first time, mother found me to shiver
For the first time, I dipped into high-tide and low-tide
For the first time, I heard the other side.
For the first time, I touched the mountains
For the first time, I came out of chains.
For the first time, I became aimless
For the first time, I faced disgrace.
I know that love lacks shore
and never can be touched its core
Swimming for a long, I found nothing more.
I swam across the axis
and reached the sea-like heart
that can’t be crossed anyhow
Only endless wave strikes every then and now.
1. A sacred religious night to the Hindus and the Buddhists.
Shamim Reza, a poet, editor and professor,is director at the Bangabandhu Comparative Literatureand Culture Institute, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka
