“Searchlight” and “Rhododendron Cafe,” Two Poems by Shaswata Gangopadhyay in translation from Bengali by Rajdeep Mukherjee
Searchlight and Rhododendron Cafe
Two Poems by Shaswata Gangopadhyay, in translation from Bengali
1. Searchlight
‘I am a very rare orchid, truly hard to collect’
saying this, you suddenly vanished like camphor one afternoon
I have stood alone, turning into a living fossil
soap bubbles overflow from the letters of the neon board
the moon hangs like a delicate paper lantern stained with blood
as the night grows, the chilling air blows, as if all of Kolkata
is a little secluded hill town in some deserted valley
the hairpin bend is right ahead,
a little far away is the Buddhist monastery
in the carved fruit of the pine forest,
hidden behind the wet leaves of ferns
where are you hiding, that I search and search with a torch
I mean a dry-lipped, stubborn, lovesick lover,
a Bengali poem of separation arranged in letterpress fonts…
2.Rhododendron Cafe
A deserted hilly pit, common people say it’s a suicide point
Frozen clouds float layers after layers, beside
There is a cafe, not famous, made out of
Raw woods that emits vapour
Here towards afternoon, there’ll be our
Unexpected chance-meeting
Winter sunshine is spread all over, coloured like Dettol
Both of us will be taken by surprise:
There are so many scratchy wrinkles on both of our faces
There’ll be served local wine in bamboo containers,
The husks of yeast and apple causing intoxication
Will gradually ascend upward the head
Like the poison of snake
On every table go on planchettes,
Planchettes of dear poets dead long ago
They are brought down silently
by hooking their souls with a pole,
Night will knock on the lobes of the ear, and here only
Our chat will go on face to face in the rest of the life.
Translated from Bengali to English by Rajdeep Mukherjee
Shaswata Gangopadhyay is one of the Prominent faces of Contemporary Bengali Poetry, who started writing in Mid 90s. Shaswata’s poems have been published in all major Bengali Poetry journals. Shaswata has participated in different International poetry festivals of Europe and Both North and Latin America. His poems have been published in all six continents in more than 150 International Journals and Anthologies through translations in 7-8 languages. His book of Poems are: Inhabitant of Pluto Planet (2001), Offspring of Monster (2009), Holes of Red Crabs (2015), In the city of myth and mushroom (2023) and Poems of Shaswata Gangopadhyay (2023). He has also been invited to read his poems in UK, USA, France, Australia, South Africa, Colombia and Portugal Virtual Book Fair. He has been invited to Paris, Vienna and Frankfurt to read his poems. Very recently he has received ‘Sparkling Soul Award’ from Chile, Latin America. This year, He was invited to Prestigious ‘Gateway Lit Fest’ in Mumbai to read his poems.