Sep 30, 2013

I wait near the pathway

I look for your beauty
to wake my heart
and shake my dusty strings.

I have no flower 
Only tears that sing.
I hope you see my pain 
as far as you may be
dear Beauty.

Days pass on end
my heart is not quenched.

I am askance in the empty quay
I wish I could see
colors when you come.
I wish I could sail 
in an ocean of energy.

(another version by Rumela)

I sit by the wayside
And gaze at you, O Beauteous One
Dust gathers on the strings
Of the Veena in my heart
O Beauteous One

I have no blossoms to wreathe a garland
I play a tearladen song on my Veena
For you to hear from afar in the dark
O Beauteous One

Day after day goes by
O Beauteous One
What is this thirst
That afflicts my heart
O Beauteous One

Alone on this lonesome pier
I know not what to do
When will it arrive
The raft with colourful sails
When will I set sail
In the ocean of bliss
O Beauteous One

Another version for rendition in English by Anandamayee Majumdar

When would you arrive?
I am yearning for you
On the roadside
Beauty of mine!

My heart and my mind
and golden guitar
are gathering dust
Beauty of mine!

My garden is empty
How can I offer
flowers, would you have my
tears to share?

Listen as I play on
In the teary dark
From afar
Beauty of mine

Day after day
Night after night
Time flies on
Beauty of mine

A suffering heart
Cries out in thirst,
aching thirst,
Beauty of mine

How could I set sail;
The dock is empty?
When would the ship
come and deliver me?

When would I float away
To the blue sea
Of paradise
Beauty of mine?

2019 02 09


Sep 29, 2013

All has come to end like a fading dream

সকলি ফুরাল, স্বপনপ্রায়
sakali phuralo swapanpraay

All has come to end
Like a fading dream
Where is she hiding?
Where is she, o where?

The woods wear a desolate look
Why do the birds sing no more?
An emptiness wherever I look
Where is she, o where?

For whom will the buds bloom?
Madhavi & Malati weep in woe
She who came to fill her pail
She who came to pluck some fruit
O she will come no more
Where is she, o where?

The muse calls in love

ডেকেছেন প্রিয়তম, কে রহিবে ঘরে
Dekechhen priyotomo, ke rohibe ghore (audio)

The muse calls in love
It is time to show up,
To release from quiescence.
I come to herald everyone
In hustling celebration

Seething souls will find respite
From ache, alienation

The sky will pour it's symphony
The earth will be wrapped
In magnificence.

Creation transforms
To a gorgeous stage for the tryst

My heart is now prepared
To meet the loving face
Reflected within

Sep 21, 2013

The lamps of all my sorrow

আমার সকল দুখের প্রদীপ
Amar shokol dukher prodip
(audio)

Lighting the lamps of all my sorrow
I will offer when the day goes by
My sorrow filled worship is not over yet

When the shadows grow longer
When the birds fly back to their nests
When the prayer bells ring out at dusk
Then will this life leap up in a last flame
My sorrow filled worship is not over yet

Many words, many pleas from many a day
Much unrest, much agitation
Tangled up in pain-struck strings
Flit up and fill up my heart today

When they light up one by one
In the holy fire of worship
When they leap and race to the sky
Breaking free from their bondage
When they fade into the setting sun
My sorrow filled worship will over be then

The give and take

দেওয়া নেওয়া ফিরিয়ে-দেওয়া
Dewa newa phiriye dewa
(audio)

The give and take
The giving it all back
This game between you and me
Goes on through the ages
Can death put an end to it?

When I awake to your song
When I look for you in the skies
You cascade down to earth
In the song on my Ektara*

The glittering gold of your light
I repay the debt with flowers
That bloom on my dark soil

When my arbour of Shefali blossoms
Is drunk with fragrance on an autumn night
It tugs then at your skies
To shower down later a tune
In the loving drizzle of a monsoon night.

Ektara* - a one stringed lute

Sep 16, 2013

Release the dark door, mother

তিমিরদুয়ার খোলো-- এসো, এসো নীরবচরণে
Timiro duwaro kholo (audio: Debabrata Biswas duet)

Release the dark door, mother
arrive in silence.
Stand in the golden sunshine.
Wash away my dullness
with your pleasing presence, so pure.
Flood the sky with music,
that can joyfully awake the world.
Restore my breath with your sweetness.
Stand so I may gaze at you, bathed in light.


Sep 13, 2013

The day my heart cracks open

সে দিনে আপদ আমার যাবে কেটে
Shey dine apod amar jabe kete (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

The day my heart
cracks open in joy
I'll be free.

So when your scent
and honey pour
out of me
no one can pretend
it's me.

Night and day
the giant world
watches me.
I think I know
what that means.

They seem to see
my heart is made
of magic cells
infinite joy.

If and when
it's all squeezed out
that's the death
of little me.
That's when
my heart will heal.

Autumn radiance blossoms

শরত-আলোর কমলবনে
Shoroto alor kamolo bone (audio)

Autumn radiance
Blossoms like a precious lotus-pond,
Indulging my muse
Out of my heart

Sunshine, twinkling, aureate,
Echos the clink of her armlets,
Jittery shadows
Are possessed by her veil
Heaving in the wind

Her fragrance, meditative,
Hovers below the Shiuli

Contained within
She is captivating
Expressed outside
She is exquisite

Today, more than ever,
Her purest gaze
Reflects in the royal blue sky

Sep 6, 2013

Brown, indigenous child

Ogo shaontali chhele (audio)

Brown, indigenous child,
As enchanting as the
Juvenile, opaque, emerald season
I discover you,
Unfolding your heart
Through rustic tunes, an earthly flute,
Hovering beyond plush meadows,
Opulent groves
Like a rain-messenger

Monsoon clouds,
Misted with cobalt blue
Elbow in from the east
Deepening your dark skin.

The sun's gorgeousness reflects
On your sparse, buff wear.

You fascinate me
With your silent treasure
-- a bud of monsoon,
Left at my doorstep
In quiet affinity

My monsoon melodies
Hover in the sky
Like a flight of swans,
Voicing your tunes

Our hearts meet
Through the tempest
In the tossing Tomaal,
Walking down with the beat
Immersed in cloudy shadows.