TRANSLATION: AFSAN CHOWDHURY
It will rain one day in this murderous city
Your green sari, dark blouse will be wet
Your hair will be drenched like monsoon clouds
Your kohl darkened eyes, your eyelids will be wet,
Your winding eyebrows like a river’s bend will be wet
Riding a rickshaw over the filthy waters of the city
You and I will be wet It will rain one day in this murderous city.
The red mark of blood will be wiped away;
the killer’s address will be in the gallows
We shall write about the poetry of
Nazim Hikmat, Abul Hasan
Chat about the rain melodies of Himagshu Dutta
We shall discuss that day the work of
Bibhuti- Manik- Tarasankar
Talk about the films of Satyajit and Buddhadeb
So many conversations are patiently waiting to be heard
It will rain one day in this murderous city.
I shall only sing stories near your ears
It will rain one day, our dreams will breed new stems and branches
It will rain one day in this murderous city.
Shahbagh will be wet, you and I will be wet
The eye lids of your rain coloured eyes will be wet
We shall again drown our faces in the poems of the great poets
I will be wet, you will be wet, we will be wet It will rain one day in this murderous city.
Afsan Chowdhury is a poet, translator, researcher and editor from Dhaka. He is also a former BBC journalist.
