Mirror Poem by Pradip Saikia

Moonlight on a broken mirror
The emptiness behind the mirror is looking at your ornate face
A vermilion coloured Toonwood tree

You
Rinse your face in the clear water of the deep gorge of the mirror
Chase yourself in the dense forest of the mirror
Scorch yourself in the flaming red pit of the mirror
Jump into the image enchanted by the voice of a flower

You
Move in a circle
Coil up into a coil
Lie in the cheerless horizon of the mirror

You
Arrange a pyre in the crematorium of mirror in the first half of the night
Touch the fire on your six faced mouth

Who comes by tearing apart the shrubs and creepers
Grown on your body
The god of the river
It drives the upstream bound fishes
In the water of image
In your transfer picture
An ancient snake climbs like a leopard

I am also touching your tender face
With the violin playing fingers
Of an adolescent girl

# Translated from Assamese to English by: Bibekananda Chowdhury