• Parabaas
    Parabaas : পরবাস : বাংলা ভাষা, সাহিত্য ও সংস্কৃতি
  • পরবাস | English | Poem
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  • Eggplant : Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay
    translated from Bengali to English by Carolyn B. Brown


    I want to burrow into a fat eggplant and creep deep
      inside.
    Flies and grasshoppers are swarming all around me.
    The square frame of consciousness is beginning to
      wobble.
    The light’s stinging my eyes.

    I want to snuggle like a bedbug inside an eggplant and
      be one with it.
    I want to nibble the eggplant’s flesh, loll on its cushions,
      and discover the secrets of life and death.
    I want to rest my head on the eggplant’s pillow, wrap
      myself in eggplant, and sleep.
    I want to hug the eggplant tight and listen to the seeds
      chirping inside.

    I’ll sink into its dark pit.

    I’ll tunnel even further, where it’s cold, winding my way,
      where no light shines.
    I’ll get drunk on eggplant juice.
    After the toil of indolence and slow decay, I’ll turn into an
      eggplant one day.
    When you see the eggplant’s shiny skin, you won’t know
      who’s inside—or why.


    The original poem, 'বেগুন,' is included in শ্রেষ্ঠ কবিতা ('Best poems'), published by Dey's Publishing, Kolkata, 1986.

  • Eggplant | Ten Lines for a Jackfruit | “Why,” said the little tree . . .
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