Shabdaguchha

The International Poetry Journal in Bengali and English


Issue 39
Jan-Mar '08

Kamal Choudhury

A Story that Stands

Now, I am writing my past . . .
A story that stands,
Winds that whistle in the street corners,
Newly grown beard and mustache,
And long untrimmed hair . . .

Dear tree, this is how I am.
Now, I am writing the real age of
A storm fallen leaf . . .

I am quietly taking notes on the geometric theorems
Of the human race:
The remembrances and losses,
The mystic cross on both palms,
And the lane that runs
Towards the house of romance—
From the day of sunlight to the day that rains;
The eternal path toward twilight.

Now, I am writing the road
That takes us far away,
The street that ends
The rickshaw that stops
The tree that is lost in its age
And me: a forgotten dawn . . .

I do not remember the dates,
I only know the time of longing.



Kamal Choudhury (1957 - ) is the author of seven collections of poetry including his Selected Poems (1998). He also edited an anthology on the poets of the 70s. As a government Civil Service officer of the Executive Branch, Mr. Choudhury worked in different districts of the country since 1982 and now is a secretary at the ministry of Forest and Environmental Development.

Translated from the Bengali by Hassanal Abdullah


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    Shabdaguchha, A Journal of Poetry, Published in New York, Edited by Hassanal Abdullah.