Shudhiranjan and the early morning train

Mir_Waliuzzaman
Published : 23 Feb 2008, 10:05 AM
Updated : 23 Feb 2008, 10:05 AM

'I've to catch the early morning train, wake me up at dawn'-
Saying so, Shudhiranjan stepped into the water.

This is Shudhiranjan, waves kiss his hands and feet,
Floral green motifs on the end of a sari dance in his view, a pair of bracelets adorns
An ethereal shape supine—spread out in water, on landmass,
A civil posture indeed.

Waves rise and fall, rhyming with the steam engine's shrilly call
At a distance–
A python hisses in every cell of the brains,
Swallows without compunction—all happy portraits, sonic Memories nocturne, exquisite utensils cast in metals!

Behold, the engine has broken speed alongside the platform,
Holding the world within its carriages,
Pale visage rubs against the misty panes,
Sons and daughters, father and mother,
Languishing locks of hair, a feline profile exudes coital bliss,
Eager, indifferent.

Waves curb themselves on the ancient, timeworn ebony quay,
As the dawn train slams on the brakes; from abysmal depths
Someone blows the compulsive whistle, Shudhiranjan slips down and
Down; the platform looks deserted, water sport terminates,
Shudhiranjan the aquanaut surfaces like a Poseidon!

Bangla original: Habibullah Shirajee
English version: Mir Waliuzzaman