(Translated by Rifat Munim)
stop me while there is still time
place me on land
in water
give me a bath with water
filled with flowers, Mother
rub coconut oil all over me
tell me still
we can get by only with rice and daal
we don’t need a world of plenty.
keep me here still
hidden in your chest
put me all over the full moon on the plate
and don’t forget to ask Grandma
why the old woman weaving yarn on the moon
still cries
there still is a flower near my heart,
a petal of bakul;
plant new seeds with all your heart
and let there be chants
praising all plants and trees!
keep me here still
beside a lantern;
no need for electricity do I feel
bare the whole village
to resist the burning of soil
to make sure
the city does not make its way
toward the village.
keep me here still, in farming
tropical wind
if there is an epidemic in the neighborhood
I’ll be here as neem flowers,
to keep you all safe.
all over the sajne stems
dewdrops frolic all morning
keep me here still
don’t send me far away
in the name of education!
keep all aspects of civilization
hidden from me
Mother, in my ignorant world
I’ll rather be the cries of this soil.
keep me here still
after sprinkling water on the bitter gourd plants
I’ll go catch dragonflies
for my fledgling shalik bird
in the mornings and afternoons every day.
don’t leave me, Father
president of a committee I don’t want to be
sitting on the earthen verandah
I’ll rather seek out the Supreme Being
in the light of the star
that is yet to come alive!
keep me here still
in the verdant Shantiniketan
in prolonged dejection
cries my mind!
