The Songs of my Dream

BINODINI GANTAYET
Translated from Oriya by BRAJAKISHORE DAS

The night is so lonely and quiet
And a chill of fear runs through my veins
But I feel I am in search of something.
I wish I could weep, yet I can’t;
When I start singing my old familiar tune
My voice gets choked;
You may not believe me, but this is the truth!
I thought I would play on my lute
All those melodies I know,
And would go round this land
With your company.
But I was not able to reminisce my dreams.
I wonder whether the dreams of my past
Have been really shattered...I can’t decide:
I only wanted to twinkle like a star
And glance around me
Singing some enlivening song.
Can you raise from the dust of memory
The past that was so sweet?
If you cannot, let me only play
On the broken strings of my lute
Or shed tears in silence
And go on dreaming, only dreaming.
While you keep receding from me
I shall go gliding over the infinite void
Forgetting my past, present and future.
There’ll be no sense of dejection in me:
I can colour my thoughts
With a variety of hues
And burn like the flame of a wick
Gathering the fragrant songs of my dream
From some unknown paradise.