You

tr. from Suchi Kushwah's 'Tum'
for Rituparna Borah

 

the four walls of our room
and the silence of the forest

the unbroken tune of crickets
& the silver tide of heartbeats

at this time who would talk
on our village-streets just this

shivering of the moon just
this movin' hand of the clock

and on that small mud road I
can hear even when someone's

going quietly here our bedsheet's
folding and you're turning lightly

on the pillow your hair lie a
little confused & the ring on

your nose is still shining and
even though your eyelids say

you're asleep your eyes are lost
& pining and even though I don't

know what dreams you're seeing
they break your sleep again and

again you might be dreaming the
moon that was peeking through

the evening branches just to see
you you know 'coz you're maddening

to look at and see this damn book
at your side that has fought me the

whole night and when I picked
it up and kept it aside the jealous

pages still fluttered even as I
muttered in your ears nightly

"the four walls of the room
and the silence of the forest."
 

Suchi Kushwah