“Without translation, I would be limited to
the borders of my own country. The translator is
my most important ally.”
-- Italy Calvino
My typewriter is multilingual,
its keys mysteriously calibrating
my bipolar, forked tongue.
Black-red silk ribbon spools, unwind
as the carriage moves right to left.
In cursive hand, I write from left to right.
My tongue was born promiscuous --
speaking in many languages.
My heart spoke another, my head
yet another -- the translation, seamless.
*
Auricles, ventricles pump blood --
corpuscle-like alphabets, phrases, syntax
cross-fertilize my text, breathing life.
Texture enriched -- music, cadence
spatially enhanced -- osmotic,
polyglottal -- a polygamy of grammar.
Letterforms dance, ligatures pirouette --
ascenders, descenders -- pitch perfect.
Imagination isn’t caged in speech --
speech cannot be caged in language.
Sudeep Sen is a leading international poet with prize-winning books published under his name. His photography, represented by ArtMbassy, Rome/Berlin, is part of private/public collections. The Government of India awarded him the senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.” Sen is the first Asian honoured to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read at the Nobel Laureate Festival.
