Five Nondescript Haikus

1.

aye light, aye darkness

i have never seen such love

except in some dreams

...

2.

and thus, you stray on

smiling at angry people,

waiting for the storm

...

3.

rooster crows at sun

candles shine up babylon

how did it all start?

...

4.

caterpillar, oh

what joke of humanity

turned you into shoes?

...

5.

when a musafir

finds a home of life and love

strange birds learn to weep

just a torn piece

just a torn piece we fight to glue up to integrity having no idea on how it will look when it's all stuck up together

just a dark tunnel we seek to counterstrike our way through to light having no idea how light feels like

just a wishing well

and a handful of stones

to throw down, and wait,

for an echo

which might or might not arrive

because everything doesn't

but some dusty buses do:

perfect, splendid - in anger and automation;

that's why we live

we chase music

we fight dragons

and we keep on living

until we don't.

ও দেশপ্রেমী ভাই

ও দেশপ্রেমী ভাই

তোমার মুণ্ডু কেটে খাই

নিছক তুমি চুনোপুঁটি

সাঁতরে চলো গুটিগুটি 

গভীর জলে রাঘব বোয়াল মারতে থাকে ঘাই।

Two Gondi Songs from Bastar

(as represented in Bangla font and translated into Bangla by Narayan Sanyal, DanDak Shabari, 1962)

Song 1 – Transliteration

barang sarapartey uditan saydar

badengey isey uditan?

belosankey isey uditan?

… ha dada saydar

kyaydi aarka potsi hetke isey hanDu

tatat humar kishun hetkey isey hanDu

… ha dada saydar

sarpar tahey hanDu

taney isey poyanDu

“ayo ayo” – hanDu

tuna tantey onti saydar

…ha dada saydar

Song 1 Translation

Serene, in the middle of the road

Why do you sit?

Why don’t you explain?

Whom do you wait for?

Is it for our Bolesa? 

…ha dada Saydar

Pitcher in hand, she has gone, softly

by the river

She is not here

You wait for her, futile, staring at the road

…ha dada Saydar

If she comes by the lonesome path 

You shall hold her hand

She shall say – “no, don’t,

i shall not go with you”

…ha dada Saydar

….

Song 2 – Transliteration

aring baring bader… raa—eyy

peron bader payenDu… raa—eyy

darka pirru dardar... raa—eyy 

jhimTi pirru jhimjhim…raa--eyy

Dori usha hanDu…raa—eyy

Dakka pichar hanDu…raa—eyy

Song 2 Translation

Rainy clouds wrap the sky

at times it gushes down in torrents

and at times, it drizzles slow

Doleful minstrel of wilderness playing on the strings 

Tearing through the ink-black darkness

At the twilit hour of dusk, from the western skies

Sun-god hurls his golden arrows

But, in the ceaseless waters flooding through,

those arrows of gold float away

To sacrifice their selves to the depths of darkness

...

...

[given these are Gondi to Bangla to English translations, i think we might have deviated significantly from the original connotations]

১৭-০৩-২০১৬

কি টানে ধরবে নিঠুর এই বনস্থলী-দেহ

আমরা তো প্রাকৃতস্বর, আমরা তো খুঁজে নিই নানান স্টেশন 

এইখানে পেয়ে যাবো পথ অস্থির,  ঐখানে সমুদ্রে লাল-নীল জমায়েত

সেইখানে, কিছু পাখি, নিস্তার পাবে বলে, স্থিত, উড্ডীন -

বুঝিবা আকাশ গিয়েছে ফেটে তুমুল, অবিরল আহ্লাদে

অথবা পাতাল পেতেছে জিভ আগুনের স্তনে -

সেইখানে, বেঁচে থাকে, বেঁচে থাকা সেইসব জোনাকিমানুষ

প্রহারে প্রহারে বাঁচে, অনাদরে, বিষন্ন বাজে - ষড়জ-রেখাব-গান্ধার; মিতালী রেখেছে তাই অবাক চড়ুইভাতি,

চেতনা রেখেছে চৈতন্যে - ভালোবাসা থেকেছে সহজে

এত অনায়াস তার যাতায়াত! - বুঝি ইতিহাস পিছু হটে হটে

মিলিয়ে গিয়েছে মায়াঘন অন্ধকার মিলিয়ে দিয়েছে মননের পাঁজর ও কোটর -

সেইখানে, অবিরল খাদ - পতনের মুখে মুখ ঢেকে

ঘুরে দাঁড়ানোর গান, পুতুলের কলকব্জা, সময়ের কালপ্যাঁচা -

সেই সব ছুঁয়ে, দেখে, বুঝে নিয়ে সমস্ত সুন্দর -

তথাগত একা একা কেঁদে গেছে তারাদের নীচে

চাঁদ তার হল কি সুজাতা? জ্যোৎস্না হল কি তবে পায়সান্ন অবশেষ?

...

so many sounds, so much silence
such courage, such fright
it is as if the forests of the world are on fire
and clouds have gathered to frown
from all sides
at this mad quest for Thunder!

this is the time for love
our springtime carnival
we learn to light bonfires
we learn to plant trees
we learn to make bombs
we learn to articulate
this is the time for learning

this is the time for wisdom
because they kill babies
and because the point has always been to change it, to ache

and this is the time for poetry
because these valleys of life are our countries
and those of death - theirs.

dukkha

all life is dukkha,

me, filling tiny vials of time from the lost station,

you, joining dots between here and Andromeda 

as broken radars mourn absent aeroplanes,

moonlight yogi walks into speechless mist;

alas! alas! for the sailorman is dead! 

the hawser snaps, the sail in shreds!

who will face the void now?

who will stare into its eyes?

black bird in green island chirps of peace,

white bird in gray island waits for love,

and the other bird, the one that knows magic -

there's no way to tell what it does:

because the city in the sky is but the city of life as seen in dreams; 

and, because all life is dukkha

Breaking Indian Mosques

remember remember the 6th of December 

religion, hatred and the plot

i see many a reason how folks who should be in prison 

with money democracy be bought

beliefs

i don't believe in rebirth but i want to smoke doob with faiz in afterlife 

i don't believe in patriotism but i think khudiram bose was a kickass person

i don't believe in religions but i want to be fleshly krishna to meerabai 

i don't believe in the sacred but last evening i paused yanking off for a few seconds as the first strains of azaan floated in

i don't believe in the profane but i think had ginsberg not yanked off to blake's poetry, he wouldn't have howled the way he did 

i believe in trains, i believe in trees - including those that feast on insects 

and i believe in humans - excluding those that feast on hatred 

and lastly, i don't believe in god but i think this poem is turning out so godawful that i must stop right here.

রসিকের রসকেলি

আলোর কোলে সুর্য দোলে চাঁদের কোলে জল

ফুর্তিগাছের ফুলগুলি সব ইচ্ছেগাছের ফল

ইচ্ছেগাছের ফলগুলি সব মানুষ নামক পক্ষী

তাহার কথা ভাবছি নাগর অশ্রুসজল অক্ষি 

কাঁদতে কাঁদতে আঁধার হল বাদল হল খুব

রসের বসে রসিক নাগর রসসায়রে ডুব 

ডুবতে ডুবতে তলের খোঁজে আকুল হয়ে উঠি 

মৎস্যজন্ম চাপিয়া ধরে কীটজনমের টুঁটি 

চাপতে চাপতে কয়লা যতো সকল হবে হীরে 

সবাই যে যার চলছে পথে চাইছে না কেউ ফিরে 

সেই না দেখে যেই চিনেছি মায়ায় বাঁধা কল

রসের টানে ওম্নি ছুটি সটান রসাতল 

রসাতলের বেবাক মজা নাচছে রাজারাণী 

বাদলা যদি নাই বা হল চাতক পাবে পানি

মৃগতৃষার তৃষ্ণা পেলে মৃগের পানে ধায় 

তিনশো তারা নাচতে থাকে রসের আঙিনায় 

রসের সাধক রসিক নাগর ভাটির টানে বায় 

সুখের অগণ টুকরোগুলি একক হয়ে যায় 

একক মানে শূন্য বুঝে চিত্তহাতির বল 

আলোর কোলে সুর্য দোলায়, চাঁদের কোলে জল। 

the fall of evening

mind's iron, mind's gold 

mind's market, hearts unsold 

and then like silence evening fell 

down the bottom of a wishing well

হাসিখুশি হাইকু

আমাদের হাসিখুশি 

ইস্কুলে, জানো, 

কাঁকড়াবিছে, একদা,

karuna-haiku

clouds of karuna:-

countless rubicons, uncrossed,

the rest hanged by clocks

the burners

some things burn better than other things

little children, for example,

burn the best when big people need votes

easy to procure and burn, soft skin, soft tissues

freshly roasted babies in the morning

smell like victory for many

and the rest look away, cover their noses

and walk past

to see beautiful sunsets, smell beautiful roses,

read a poem by Tagore, contemplate jazz,

roll a joint,

make love, etc.

point being, if you wanna make it big in politics

and life,

burn a few urchins here & there,

and, preferably, from an inferior race

grab hold of their necks or legs

and drag them out like measly, squealing rats

give them a strong shake or two,

douse them in gasoline

(this is recession time, you might have to make do with kerosene,)

run a noose around their neck – nylon would do

and string them high, so high that the sun and the moon may feel ashamed

and the people feel frightened enough to kneel before you,

and then, once you set them on fire

hear how their skin burns, fat melts, eyes blast out of skulls,

shit blasts out of guts

bones cringe around circles of flame – and soon,

you shall see them turning into flags of your victory

declaring your might before the world, before time & history

and if history sticks to you the way it has across the past five thousand years

you will turn into a god in another five – a slayer of mighty, filthy demons

so, get to it asap

find a few kids – the tinier the better,

check out if they belong to an inferior race

check out if their folks can’t feed them square

and once these essential conditions are satisfied,

go ahead,

feel free

burn them

skin them

hang them

quarter them

chop them to tinier bits –

all depending on your tastes and penchants

and soon, you shall turn into a hero, a leader of the masses,

and all world shall yours be.