Those Red Lips

The day started with light banters with friends in some WhatsApp groups and soon I ended up writing a short poem in Hindi that I translated in short order to my mother tongue Axomiya ( Assamese) and English. So far so good. However trying to present all three poems side by side in one page proved more troublesome than writing and translating the poems. To make a long story short, after some trial and error, and unfortunately munching on snacks that were surely unwanted, here I am. Rest assured the poem is light, however after all those snacks I cant say that for myself.

Photo in the background free from internet.

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Introduction

Wrote this poem in my mother tongue Axomiya (Assamese) first and then translated to English today. Posting it here in the reverse order.

Just asked your name,
My friend,
To get introduced, and
You gave a long list of
Identification;
For me there was
Only one identity of you,
I wanted to build a bridge,
But the high wall of your identity, built by
The long list of
Nationality, ethnicity, language, religion,
Made it a bridge far away;
That you did not include
The color of your skin,
Acknowleging that I am not blind,
Thanks for the small mercy,
Friend of mine.
Au revoīr my friend,
Look me up
If one day you yearn
For company of man,
I shall be here,
The world is my home.
Oh, you never asked my name,
My friend,
May be it is unnecessary to you,
Still, let me introduce myself,
I am human.

নাম পৰিচয়

সুধিছিলোঁ নাম তোমাৰ বন্ধু
চিনাকি হ’বলৈ,
তুমি দিলা দীঘল তালিকা
তোমাৰ পৰিচয়ৰ,
মোৰ বাবেতো আছিল এটাই মাথোঁ
পৰিচয় তোমাৰ,
গঢ়িব খুজিছিলোঁ মই
বন্ধুত্বৰ সেঁতু,
জাতি, ধৰ্ম, ভাষা, দেশৰ তালিকাৰ
উচ্চ প্ৰাচীৰেৰে গঢ়িলা বন্ধু,
বিভাজনৰ হেতু,
তথাপিও জনালোঁ তোমাক
ধন্যবাদ বন্ধু,
নাইযে তালিকাত তোমাৰ
ছালৰ ৰং,
নাভাবিলা মই অন্ধ;
বিদায় বন্ধু আজিলৈ,
আহিবা বিচাৰি
যদি কেতিয়াবা হয় প্ৰয়োজন
মানুহৰ সঙ্গৰ,
থাকিম মই ইয়াতেই,
পৃথিৱীয়ে মোৰ ঘৰ;
অ’, নুসুধিলা মোৰ নাম,
হয়তো তোমাৰ নাই দৰকাৰ,
তথাপিও দিলোঁ পৰিচয় বন্ধু,
মই মানুহ ।

Divide Artificial – “One-Liner Wednesday”

This post is in response to Linda’s  #1OneLinerWednesday.

As I was walking my dog Skooby today morning, a few lines of a poem was churning in my head.  Normally I will sit down at my PC or jot down in my mobile whenever such things happen but I did not have recourse to any one of those today.  Can’t rely on old memory too much now a days. By the time I sat on my PC, what remained is just one line of the poem. So before I forget, here is to One Liner Wednesday

Race is the cement,
color of skin sand,
language aggregates,
concrete to nationality steel,
building the dividing wall of religion
keeping us apart
while the river of love
from time immemorial
flows with the color of blood,
RED.

Changes Inevitable – a set of haikus

Inevitable
Tree leaves turn green to amber
Changes natural

Cyclic seasons turn
Black to grey hairs turn, aging
Coloring futile

Enchanting rose blooms
Heavenly beauty withers
Fragrant memory

A sudden storm blows
Uproots strongest oak tree, dead
Nature impartial

Birth to death, cycle
Changes, process natural
Inevitable

I Search in Vain

My friend Jane (Jane Dougherty) had introduced me to writing Ghazals in English some time back.  Growing up in India, I was quite familiar to listening to ghazals but never knew that ghazals were also written in English.  During last few months, I tried my hand writing a few pieces. I either write in my mother tongue, Assamese ( Axomiya), and then translate to English or vice versa.  Last week, like a fool, I prompted Jane to write a ghazal as she had not posted a ghazal for quite some time.  She turned the table on me as she promptly wrote one and posted (Rain) and challenged me to write one. I find it very hard to follow rules while writing poetry and ghazals do have some strict rules.  I am not professing that I have followed all the rules but here is my try.  My apologies to all the purist who follow strict rules. I plead guilty to breaking the rules.

I wrote the following piece in English first and then translated to Assamese. Posting it in the same sequence.

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I Search in Vain

Just wanted to be human but society pigeonholes

Hyphenated identity breaks my heart as society pigeonholes

Non-believer

I believe in the goodness of humanity
Believe that dawn will follow night surely
Believe in all things beautiful
Though the world is full of misery
Believe in  oneness of mankind, disappearance
Of artificial boundaries dividing us
Believe one day we shall overcome, and
Win our fight against eradication of crippling diseases
Believe we will be able to stop all abuses and exploitation
And rise above our shortsighted, mean spirited oppressors
I believe that peace will prevail over terror
Truth will always trump fake
Those who preach hatred
Will be consumed by their own hatred
But I do also believe that we the people
Of diverse faith, color and race
Working together will create wonder
To make this world better
Because I am not ready to wait
For grace of almighty
And believe in miracles to happen
You shun me as a non-believer
I will rather have my faith
In the goodness of humanity
And burn in hell if need be