Where the night merge into the horizon of the day

Where the night merge into the horizon of the day
We meet there at the source of that enchanted beauty,
Out there the white and the black have lost their identities into the light and the dark
out there the waves travel from one land to the other in an endless loop
Within the arms of the calm blue silence there rises a somber voice afar
And suddenly the sky unveils a golden aura of the magic hour.
I try so hard to look at your face but alas ! Its never clear to my heart's content..
You are now within my dreams and my dreams make me cry  ..

It was evening when the clouds enshrouded the stars

It was evening when the clouds enshrouded the stars behind their shadows ..
All I had to tell you, I said it all ..
May be You never listened to them, that's why you could bid me farewell so easily ..
The sky out then was so dark with rains blurring my vision ..
Your eyes never faced mine when I looked into your's
And the darkness covered the silent pains
Can we ever get back this amorous evening ? ever ? .. No
Alas ! its over .. its over for the rest of our life ..

You are my evening cloud

You are my evening cloud, the pinnacle of my desire

The one who glides into my empty mind.

With all my  tenderness, I have created you

You are mine, you are mine

The one who glides into my infinite mind.

My bleeding heart has doused your feet in crimson

Oh you! voyager of my evening dream

I’ve sketched your tormenting lips with my joy and pain

You are mine, you are mine

The one who stalks my empty life.

I’ve painted the infatuating dream-laced kohl on your eyes

Oh you! the one with the charming gaze

I’ve wrapped your body delicately in my music

You are mine, you are mine

The one who is life and death to me.

Stormy Night

That night when the storm shattered my doors

You entered my room and I didn’t know.

All was dark – the lamps went out,

I stretched my arms seeking help in vain.

A bad dream I thought, lying in the dark dorm.

Alas! Your victory pennon was only the storm.

In the morning, I saw you standing there

Amidst my emptiness that has filled the sphere.

There's thirst in my eyes

Thirsty eyes 

thirst heaving all within my heart

A sultry summer day, scorches the chest.

Sweltering heat - the mind fails its pace

Lifting the veil from my naked face.

The flowers that brightened the garden

Are parched and blackened

The waterfalls prisoned on the hard rock-bed

On the mountain peak of saddened fate

Liberation

I shall be liberated in the sky, in glorious lustre, 

I shall be liberated over dust and green pasture.

Far beyond the body and mind, lost in trance

My liberation by the melody of song shall advance.

Liberating amidst mind and body of all 

Ignoring danger and despair, amidst arduous goal,

In the pyre of creation by the fire of the soul

Let my life be offered in the liberation’s hope.

Who Is This?

I came out alone on my way to my tryst.
But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger;
he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame;
but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.

I do not intend to fascinate you with my beauty

I do not intend to fascinate you with my beauty
Rather, I would charm you with my love
Won’t I make any effort to open your doors
My songs would set them open
I won’t cover myself in ornaments
Won’t I be bedecked with flowers
My love would rather be my garland
And swing round your neck
None would ever come to know of the wind
That sends ripples in your heart
With my unnoticed desire, like moon
I would foment waves in the tide
At the close of my heart, at distance apart
In land, in water
The flute plays on the tune,
‘I love you, love you, and love you, my dear’
In the heart of the sky, who murmurs in pain
Whose eyes appear in the horizon
Get bathed in tears, drowns around
Says, ‘I love you, my dear’
The tune whispers from the lower depth
A wail is set free, shivers on the shore
For reasons unknown, the tune plays in my heart
Brings forth the days, forgotten for years
The cry and laughter of yesteryear is reborn as refrain
‘I love you, love you and love you, my dear’

A Moments Indulgence

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

The Last Bargain

             

              "Come and hire me," I cried, while in the morning I was walking on the stone-paved road.

              Sword in hand, the King came in his chariot.

              He held my hand and said, "I will hire you with my power."

              But his power counted for nought, and he went away in his chariot.

              In the heat of the midday the houses stood with shut doors.

              I wandered along the crooked lane.

              An old man came out with his bag of gold.

              He pondered and said, "I will hire you with my money."

              He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.

            It was evening. The garden hedge was all aflower.

            The fair maid came out and said, "I will hire you with a smile."

            12Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark.

            The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly.

            A child sat playing with shells.

            He raised his head and seemed to know me, and said, "I hire you with nothing."

            From thenceforward that bargain struck in child's play made me a free man.

The Recall

The night was dark when she went away, and they slept.

The night is dark now, and I call for her,
"Come back, my darling; the world is asleep,
 and no one would know if you came for a moment
 while stars are gazing at stars."

She went away when the trees were in bud
and the spring was young.

Now the flowers are in high bloom and I call,
"Come back, my darling. The children gather 
 and scatter flowers in reckless sport.
 And if you come and take the little blossom
 no one will miss it."

Those that used to play are playing still,
so spendthrift is life.

I listen to their chatter and call,
"Come back, my darling, for mother's heart
 is full to the brim with love,
 and if you come to snatch only one little
 kiss from her no one will grudge it."

Ungrateful Sorrow

At dawn shey⁽¹⁾ departed
My mind tried to console me -
" Everything is Maya⁽²⁾".
Angrily I replied:
"Here's this sewing box on the table,
that flower-pot on the terrace,
this monogrammed hand-fan on the bed---
all these are real."
My mind said: "Yet, think again."
I rejoined: " You better stop.
Look at this storybook,
the hairpin halfway amongst its leaves,
signaling the rest is unread;
if all these things are "Maya",
then why should "shey" be more unreal?"

My mind becomes silent.
A friend arrived and says:
"That which is good is real
it is never non-existent;
entire world preserves and cherishes it its chest
like a precious jewel in a necklace."

I replied in anger: "How do you know?
Is a body not good? Where did that body go?"

Like a small boy in a rage hitting his mother,
I began to strike at everything in this world
that gave me shelter.
And I screamed:" The world is treacherous."

Suddenly, I was startled.
It seemed like someone admonished me :" You- ungrateful ! "

I looked at the crescent moon
hidden behind the tamarisk tree outside my window.
As if the dear departed one is smiling
and playing hide-and-seek with me.

From the depth of darkness punctuated by scattered stars
came a rebuke: "when I let you grasp me you call it an deception,
and yet when I remain concealed,
why do you hold on to your faith in me with such conviction?"

(1): "Shey" in Bengali can mean either he or she.
(2): "Maya" meaning Unreal.