Perhaps I will never find my paradise

আমার নাইবা হল পারে যাওয়া

Amar nai ba holo pare jaoa (audio link: Kanika Bandyopadhyay)

Perhaps, I will never find my paradise
But I hear my heart caper carelessly
In the breeze that nudges me on 
To the endless sea, 
Like it has always done.

Perhaps my destiny eludes me
But I see myself at peace 
As I pause at passing ports.

My hopes have all sunk in the deep
But what of it? 
I am content to see others
Keep their dreams afloat

I count my blessings nearby
Little things that lend me delight
Should I sigh for untouched glories
Of my promised land?

Perhaps I have my flaws
Which I will complement
With the breath in my body.
Whatever remains of my disgruntled demands 
Will whet my poet's imagination

Light a lamp in my home

আমার এ ঘরে আপনার করে

Amaro e ghore aponaro kore (audio)

Light a lamp in my home,
let it bless all my hurt.
Take away my lurking dark
I'll be blessed to love the world.

Your touchstone make a quiet light,
digging gold from darkest night.

Fires that I duly burn

leave ashes and deep injury.

Yet, I crave for your sunshine
on my door and in my eyes.

I offer you a fresh heart

আমারে দিই তোমার হাতে

Amare di tomar haate nuton kore nuton praate

I offer you a fresh heart
with every sunrise.
Every day my life blossom anew
in your courtyard.

Beats of separation
makes a fresh start of our unity.

With every sunrise
I lose you to find you
near shores of light and dark.

Someday my garden.. will flower..

আমার  সকল কাঁটা ধন্য করে 

(amar sokol kata dhonyo kore)

Someday my garden.. will flower..

rewarding the thorns, that bled..

All my pain.. will transform

into a flushing rose..

A spring wind.. one day..

will leave my sky-gazing behind..
and spill.. all the sweetness.

My bashfulness will pass

as I wield my abounding wealth

when my desire ripens in my heart.. 

and begins to shape my life..

When the night ends 
my friend.. will touch my garden.. 
letting my pale blossoms.. will fall apart.. at their feet..

We seek out playmates

আমরা খুঁজি খেলার সাথি

Amra khunji khelar shathi

We seek out playmates
In an endless match

Up at the strike of dawn 

To astonish drowsy eyes.

We lilt like the birds

We dance with the boughs.

Our charms befuddle

With invisible entrapment.

Death does not hold us;

We are up to redeem

Plundered treasures, taken by Time.

We have penetrated your heart

You are ours now.

Even as you walk 

To greet a strange darkness

The gloom will glimmer with stars

Impassioned by us.

My lightless lamp faces lustrous stars

আমার অন্ধপ্রদীপ শূন্য-পানে চেয়ে Amar ondho prodeep My lightless lamp faces the lustrous stars In defeated silence Seeking missives of radiance, A spark to ignite it's soul with success. Asking to be indebted forever  To the blazing hearts of the sky, In their endless quest of love lost. To be united in the one truth of light Within the same inky darkness; To seize that serendipitous moment of  gloom.

May joy flow from my flute

আনন্দগান উঠুক তবে বাজি Anondogaan uthuk tobe baaji (audio) May joy flow from my flute—woebegone. I shall sail across the sea of tears. The wind says it's time to move on take all my sleepless nights. My heart dances with thunder  laughing in endless waves. Who are you that can make a song? Make a song with my flute —woebegone. Stranger, give me a symphony never heard of, never sung. Make my ship float across  with your upstream wind. A soul I have never seen pulls my heart, who could stay? I lost my hopes of a home. I fall headlong into the stars. Call of the wild,  sing through my flute — woebegone.

Arise with clear eyes..

জাগো  নির্মল নেত্রে

Jaago nirmal netre

Arise with clear eyes.. 

beyond the darkest skies..

Rise within your heart.. 

with your freedom's right..

Arise with all you have..

rise like flowering airs..

Rise like a sparkling skies..

arise bold and bright..

Rise in a lovely dance..

near your ambrosia..

Rise in the house of love..

far from the voice of fear..

Arise bright and big..

rise with stubborn dreams..

Arise in endless space..

where all fullness brims..

Arise in the land of strength..

rise when fight demands..

Rise where one is all..

rise as good deeds can.. 

Rise on the road not walked..

rise on the path of pain..

Rise in the house of love..

far from the parted vein..

Celebrate.. celebrate..

জয় হোক, জয় হোক

joy hok..joy hok..

Celebrate.. celebrate.. new sunrise..!
Let the eastern horizon glow with brilliance..

Arrive.. message.. of indomitable courage..cut through harmful lies..
Master.. the fear.. Master.. disputes..
Arrive.. resurrected hope.. an ode.. for ever-green life..
Arrive.. eternal hope.. cut through rigidity..
Put an end to.. despair..let go.. of what need be gone..

Breathe new life in me

নূতন প্রাণ দাও, প্রাণসখা, 

Nutono praan daao (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

(another rendition by Jayati Chakrabarty)

Breathe new life in me
my companion, this dawn.
Rub all my black, with fresh joy.
Kill the old night with new sunrise.

I listen to your footfall

চরণধ্বনি শুনি তব, নাথ,

Chorono dhoni shuni tobo nath (audio: Ritu Guha)

I listen to your footfall 
somewhere in the shore of life. 
In silence, in every sweet breeze. 

Stars and planets speechless overhead  
steadily gaze on.
My thoughts heave gently, ever gently. 

My eyes look on aching with thirst.
My ears, anticipate your homecoming. 
Maybe you'll rise with some sunrise. 
And sink my pain and pleasure
with deep joy.

(another version by Rumela)

I hear your footsteps O Lord

Along the shore of life

In the stillness of seclusion

In the sweetness of the wafting wind

The stars and planets in the sky

Look on with a steadfast gaze

Many a thought stream in my heart

Slowly ever so slowly in solitude

My eyes gaze on like a bird athirst

My ears alert in the depths of my heart

At which auspicious dawn will you come

You will stand at the threshold of my heart

Forgetting all joy and sorrow

I will sink into the depths of bliss

You robbed me of my pride

গরব মম হরেছ, প্রভু

Gorobo momo horechho probhu (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

You robbed me of my pride
with gifts of humility.
How can I raise my eyes to you!

I pretend I found you
yet the lies fall apart
at my work, in my home.
How can I raise my eyes to you!

Could I even house you
when I failed to release
my innocent heart?

I have always longed for you
yet me eyes have only seen myself;
I failed to see you
seated in the majesty of being.
How can I raise my eyes to you!

Your music.. sets ..

তুমি যে  সুরের আগুন লাগিয়ে দিলে মোর প্রাণে

(tumi je surer agun)

Your music.. sets.. my heart.. on fire..
multiplies.. everywhere..

Fire.. on the dead.. old.. leaves.. 
Dance.. dance.. in measured.. flare..
Hands.. raised.. to the sky.. 
something like.. a prayerful.. sigh..
Who.. listens.. I am.. not sure..

The stars.. gaze.. wonderingly..
what madness.. in the wind..

This lotus.. splayed ..with golden light..
in the heartbeat.. of the night..
what a magical.. surprise..
What.. is it about the fire..
I am not certain.. I am .. not sure..

When I give, I shall hold nothing back

বাকি আমি রাখব না কিছুই
Baki ami rakhbo na kichhui (audio Santosh Sengupta)

When I give,  I shall hold nothing back
A handful of earth I shall splay your way
Your veil will be scented with fragrant buds,
My mingling of soulful blossoms of spring.

Across oceans, bays and southern shores,
You, my guest, have made your path
And I the grove, in return shall gift
Everything I hold and have
The nests I nurse lilt vibrant songs;
A gift from my soul to yours.
I become the ardent giver, as I bow,
As I die to surrender you my heart.

I never dreamed of reaping fruit

ফল ফলাবার আশা আমি মনে রাখি নি Phol pholabar asha ami mone rakhini (audio:Arghyo Sen)  I never dreamed of reaping fruit I am happy to shower my blossoms off At the slightest tug of the southern breeze When birds sing soulfully in spring, Their warbles wane with the wind, I, too, have let my scores slip, like fallen buds. When all blossoms are blown,  When I am left barren, all alone, What will that day be like, Never have I fretted, nor cared. Maybe, in my branches, bare with giving, This message will trill with a beat, 'I have given the ultimate gift, My heartbeat-sweetness,  My spring-time-bliss.'

Give me a layover to seat the world

Bhubono jora ashono khani 

ভুবনজোড়া আসনখানি

Give me a layover
to seat the world 
the stars by night, 
the sun by day,
tapestries of shade and light,
every poetry in the sky.

Give me every tune
from the cosmic lute.

Make every tremor
of joy and sadness
every touch of 
flower and thunder 
show me your grace.

Vein of lightning

দেখা না-দেখায় মেশা হে বিদ্যুৎলতা

Dekha na-dekhay mesha he (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

Vein of lightning,
A sudden sight,

An image lost and found,
You charge the storm with a reeling presence 

You induce an ambling agony.

Struck with anonymous passion

The storm becomes a seeker,

Drifting, delving, near and far.

You flash, content to watch it rove
With silent laughter.

The sky deepens, the river wedges

Waves in a vehement quest

With nameless desires,
Dreams, unrealized.

The arbors press against the sky

Embracing despair,

Tears of suffering 
Hovering in the horizon.

blissful.. lilt..

 মধুর মধুর ধ্বনি বাজে

Modhuro modhuro dhoni baje

A blissful.. lilt in the lotus pond

of my own heart ..

My secret muse .. my diva..

sits quietly.. playing her lute..

Her music.. blends her missives.. into timelessness..

She paints.. images.. bathed in gold..

Somewhere beyond.. my heart..

In a timeless cycle.. of succulence.

With every breath.. a cuckoo .. 

submerges me with her songs..
My being inhales the aroma like a honey bee..

And drunkenly.. surrenders at her feet.

Come my goddess..
Let me gaze at you in unblemished light.
Manifest beyond the abstract..
Let me feel your tangible presence.. 
beyond this pleasurable .. somber allusion..

I chanced upon my muse

সুনীল সাগরের শ্যামল কিনারে 

Shuneelo shaagorer shyamolo kinare (audio: Debabrata Biswas) 

I chanced upon my muse
Across a navy blue sea
In an emerald shore on my way.
Now I sense her presence,
Her unsurpassed wonder
In the sweetness of the earth.

How often
Have I crafted her with my music,
How often
Have I laboured to voice her
Through my lute.

These missives and melodies
I will sow in my yesterdays,
Like potent seeds
Reaping my dream's harvest

These tunes will buzz
With the honeybee
Shifting with buds in the arbor.
They will surrender to the earth
Like raindrops of a high monsoon.
Then again in an autumn sky
They will idly drift with the sparse clouds
Aching with remembrance.

There she will be
Catching me with heavenly surprise,
Seeping into the songs of my twilight, my night,
My spring darkness,
Penetrating my deepest, lilting melancholy.

Bare open my reverie

এ মোহ-আবরণ
E moho-aboron khule daao (audio: Subinoy Roy)

Bare open my reverie.
Reveal your beautiful heart
See me within.

(another version by Rumela)

Do remove this veil of illusion
Let my eyes have their fill
Let them sight your beautiful face
Do lay your gaze upon my heart

My heart.. dances.. like a peacock..

হৃদয় আমার নাচেরে
(hriday amar nache re)

My heart.. dances.. like a peacock..
Rejoicing, reeling.. in the monsoon..
Emotions.. splayed like plumes..
Reach.. to the sky.. like an iridescent arc..
Yearnings tuned to a passion.. unknown..

I walk.. down lanes of myths.. missives..
Reliving.. someone, somewhere..
Swaying.. in a tangled swing..
Of the spicy Bokul branch..
Starry.. blossoms.. spewed adrift..
Resonating to the drumbeats.. of rain..
A woman's veil.. flashing in the sky..
Tresses.. tumbling down her face..
Careful braid flung open.. by the breeze..

A thick rain.. douses the emerald leaves..
Crickets.. spawn a chorus in the arbor..
The water.. picks up in the canals and rivers..
Islanding an enchanted.. village..

Eternal voyager, you befriend every traveler

পান্থ তুমি, পান্থজনের সখা হে 
Pantho tumi, panthojoner shokha he (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

Eternal voyager,
You befriend every traveler.
Every pathway, a sheer sensation
Of nothing, but you.
The tune that articulates bliss
Through a tramp's voice, is yours.

A heart touched with your breath
Does not ponder its past,
Does not pause from shore to shore,
Is nudged on by turbulent winds
To wide open seas.

Eternal voyager,
You befriend every traveler,
You sail away in her endless heart.
As she unlocks her latch to peer forth
What she finds, is your embodiment.

She braves the perils and the bars
Not vacillated by indulging ambitions,
Feverishly compelled with wanderlust.
Her voyage leads on to you;
Every pathway, a sheer sensation
Of nothing, but you.

Ahead of me a sea of bliss

সমুখে শান্তিপারাবার
shomukhe shantiparabar 

Ahead of me a sea of bliss
Unmoor the raft, my Helmsman!
My eternal friend You will be
Take me, do take me into Your lap

The path into the boundless beyond
Is lit up by the lone pole star

You who deliver me from bondage
Your clemency, Your compassion
Will sustain me through my eternal voyage

Let my mortal attachments fall apart
Let the vast cosmos fold me in her embrace
Let the great unknown become the known
With an intimacy that knows no fear

To every soul who offered me joy

যে কেহ মোরে দিয়েছ সুখ
Je keho more diyechho shukh (with audio)

To every soul.. who.. offered me joy..
Comforting and cajoling..
To you.. I am grateful..
To every soul.. who taught me hurt..
Gifting me lessons.. of woe..
To you.. I am grateful. 

To every soul.. who loved me..
Your love.. is my beacon..
I have discovered you in that warmth..
I have beheld you.. in that luminance..
To you.. I am grateful.
 
To every soul.. who.. abandoned me..
You have nudged me on..
Nearer.. and surer.. to my grand source..
To you.. I am grateful.

Whether I may.. realize..
Whether I may.. trust..
I found.. the supreme radiance..
In this universe..
Just as simply as I opened my eyes..
To you.. I am grateful.

You haven't fathomed me

তুমি মোর পাও নাই পরিচয়
Tumi mor pao nai porichoy

You haven't fathomed me.
The soul you seem to know,
Is a mere picture, a fleeting shadow.
You have laced her with your wreathe
But the buds gradually  dwindle.
This is an image
That the sunshine is afraid to touch,
That the drift can not caress.

Let sorrow approach you with luminance
Let it offer it's blazing blessings.

Let death crouch in softly
And majestically reveal all.
Ending all defeat.

Do adorn me with flowers

দে লো, সখী, দে পরাইয়ে গলে
de lo shokhi de poraiye gole

Do adorn me with flowers, my friend 
A garland of my much loved Bakul
Pluck the yet to bloom buds of Juhi
Twine them together and bedeck me
Tresses full of blossoms.
Tie back the restless locks
That brush my cheeks time and again

In.. the dark hollows.. of my heart..

ছিল যে পরানের অন্ধকারে
chilo je poraner ondhokare 

In.. the dark hollows.. of my heart..
I held a hidden soul..
Revealed.. now to my eyes..
Through a shaft of sunshine..

Once fettered.. by my dreams..
He has splintered his shell..
And surged out.. in the open..
And how.. I behold him..
With my.. unbelieving gaze..

I had once welded my tears..
Into a string.. of aching desires..
Restraining him by my hurt..

Yet.. though I treasured him..
Guarded him with solitude..
A tearful silence.. I realize..
Through eternity.. he is the breath..
The passion.. the world.. lauds and loves..

What an unearthly splendour

এ কী সুধারস আনে
E ki shudharosh ane/ E kee shudharosho aane (Audio by Hemanta Mukherjee)

What an unearthly splendor
Ravishes my heart and soul!

He has always belonged with me
But I now behold him
With open eyes, rejuvenation.
The breeze encircles his face with love,
And breaks into a hum.

My stagnant lute regains her breath
As I play my old, forgotten missives 
Once again.

Feeling his love, as it seeps
Into the blue sky, the verdant earth,
Delving in them,
Is like listening to a fresh score of music
With an open mind, a beginner's heart.

You aren't close by

তুমি কাছে নাই ব’লে
tumi kaachhe naai bole

You aren't close by, my Friend
So they shout “I am great”, “I am great”
You stay beyond sight and reach
You who are the greatest of all
So they all proclaim their own greatness

Lord, do come once
Show your smiling face
Let them turn red with shame
They who try to distract me
They who try to screen you out
Let them turn red with shame

Where is your beloved face?
The smile that lights up the world
Distract me away from this world
Keep me riveted to you
Distract me with your love
With your pleasing form

The “I” in me puffs with pride
Crush, smash, trash its egoism
Smash this ego into smithereens
Crush this pride beneath your feet

Sing a song, clear and loud

 গানে গানে তব বন্ধন যাক টুটে (লিঙ্ক এখানে)
Gaane gaane tobo bondhono jak tute (audio link here)

a translation with English rendition by Anandamayee -- link here:

Sing a song clear and loud,
let your fetters free.
Aching muteness in the dark
crying to speak out.

A cosmic muse plays out her verse
in her heart through the universe.
Let life and song synchronize
pray and bow down.

Shattered rhythms let you down
what a disharmony.
Your heart and world do not blend
make a cacophony.

Discordant heart, what a limitation,
It's the haze, it's the maze.
Reclaim your song, unconscious heart,
end the aggravation.