Poetry

Mesbah Alam Arghya

I wait for herΒ  1. I wait for her inside a dark Monday afternoon inside a dark Monday afternoon’s myth by a big round space a window overlooking billboards and a museum I know people eat strawberries make friends and money.. In fact, there is purpose in all this I wait for her in a…...

Baby Shaw

Within The RainΒ  The sounds of rain here harmonized You are waiting on the way, in the heart of the sky On both of your sides, there are jungles of cloud And they are thinking this the faint sound of rainbow Lady farmers are warning their husbands to not to go out with boats They…...

Shuvra Das

Disease Triptych I Maya is not at work today; Maya Sarkar that is, this very day when the sun is beautiful and bright and after being beaten up all night by the drunken, stealing, devious loser of a husband. In dark, puffy eyes and bloody nose, she is not ready to show up in front…...

Anjali Jagya

Diurnal Delirium Your mouth, Is filled with the never ending sky, Quenching your thirst of divinity from My heart's sycamore, on a mountain top, Behind your sternum, beneath the collar bone. Denuded of gaiety, I'm fastened to my bed, The winds tracing your nose, Malaise dripping off into scattered clothes; Forgetting our roots, you decided…...

Sonnet Mondal

Strange Meetings Sometimes we run into someone just for once in our lives and our bones refuse to fit inside the skin the same way. Plans proceed as waves and recede as doubts. A fleeting joy with gnawing pangs of apprehension the stretch between experience and fear seems like the time taken by a fish…...

Akberen Yelgezek

Translated from the Kazakh by David Cooke Nightmare Their meaning obscure, I dream of sleek black ravens whose croaking fills me with doubts and dread. They have built their nests in my hair. Like poisonous words, they’ve dripped into my mind. They swirl around inside my head, dragging my brain with them in ever-tightening circles.…...

Bibhu Padhi

This Place No one owns it, except an immense darkness. Who else is lonely here except myself? Stay with me, ask me questions I cannot answer. There are ghosts here, my ancestors. Take me to some other place, where I can breathe. I cannot find my voice here. Take me to some place where I…...

Rajosik Mitra

If I told you When I breathe in the moistness of ancient ocean woods and trace the path of butterflies in hurricanes raging along your plexus if only I could tell how deep it wounds to know it in my soul that it's probably best to look away; yet I'd never have felt the rain…...

Mamang Dai

When we needed someone When we needed someone I cried for the shaman, seeking the words of generations to accompany us, Where are all the shamans? We needed someone to mend these bones, lift this arm, dress this shoulder, spine, collar, with fine ornaments and place a spell under these feet to heal this heart,…...