Shabdaguchha
Shabdaguchha
Nirmalendu GoonA Night in Green LaneHow much do you know of the dark? How much did you see in a night? I have seen a night, a quite impressive one, Falling in Green Lane Like a drunken maniac stumbling home At midnight. I witnessed a palm tree, hit by thunder, Collapsing to the ground— I have seen the deepest dark, Black lightening, as if it was Chitrangoda, Negro Club or Angela Davis Cracked out of her mother’s womb. Those who argue about the character of night They do not know you at all. I felt your force as Adam did at God’s creating touch. The shaping hands of night excited me Like the hands of a man Making love to a woman. It kissed me on my quaking throat, On my bohemian hair, on my shining eyeballs, And on my lips as a wild woman. In Green Lane I have seen the latest updates on darkness Of the universe With my blood-shaded eyes. Chitrangoda: the wife of Arjuna, a mythological figure from Sanskrit. Nirmalendhu Goon (1945 - ) is widely read in Bangladesh. He is the author of more than 30 books of verse and numerous collections of essays, including Ginsberger Shanga (With Ginsberg). He was befriended with Allen Ginsberg while he was visiting New York. As a traveler, he visited many countries, and as a shameless gambler, he set his feet at almost all the major casinos of the world. The Bangla Academy, Dhaka, published his Selected Poems in English translation. Translated from the Bengali by Hassanal Abdullah |