Would Anyone Now

Shamsur Rahman

Translated from Bengali by Shankar Sen

Would anyone now at this late hour
         stretch his hand to me?

In the thickets around my recollection
a deer weeps in sheer desolation.
Dry leaves crushed inside my chest.
         The night like poison, bitter and sour.

Undecided I stand,
a culvert close at hand.
I turn my eyes and see
          the culvert falls like a crumbling tower.

Shall I happily enter this homestead?
On a doorframe I hit my head.
I stand outside my face dejected.
          Baring sharp fangs the wolves glower.

Lovemaking in a stolen
afternoon; with unspoken words the eyes are swollen,
made to hear a song of sheer disaster.
          Is this an accidental death of magical power?

Would anyone now at this late hour
stretch his hand to me?