Grow Deeper Your Roots, O’ Moon
- Ask history. History knows! - June 15, 2019
- Grow Deeper Your Roots, O’ Moon - May 26, 2017
- Long Shadows of Reminiscence - May 26, 2017
Grow Deeper Your Roots, O’ Moon
A flight of crows cawed aloud
Grow deeper your roots, O’ Moon
Grow them deeper
How come, from where, this stillness breaks
Where do trees crash in the depth of the night?
Today’s Sunday
And on Tuesday, the beel[1] would
Sink in sand
The fallen leaves find their way to me
And whispers softly into my ears
Can you see your inching demise?
The waters of the Diroi[2] –
There’s sport there of hungry hunger
And can you see drawn in the sands of the river
The vermillion line along the parting of the hair
The children playing in the waters of the Diroi–
Alas, they see not their ignorant childhood
A flight of crows cawed aloud
Grow deeper your roots, O’ Moon
Grow them deeper
Notes
[1] Beel: ‘Beel’ is the traditional word for Pond in low lying lands. It becomes a small rivulet in lean season. But during rainy season the entire low lying area becomes inundated and takes the shape of a Beel. [2] Diroi: ‘Diroi’ is a river in the Sivasagar District of Assam.Translated from Assamese by Dr. Manjeet Baruah
The article was first published at raiot and can be accessed here.
