O, Charmer…! Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

O charmer, where do you lie in, playing the been, the wooden been
With the haunting music of yours,
Playing and playing, pumping and puffing the wooden been
And the music mellifluously overflowing us, engulfing it all,
With the sweetness and melody of its own!

Where, O, where, in which deep forest, lie you, charmer
Playing and playing,
Singing and dancing,
Turbaned, in dhoti and kurta
With the baskets of bamboo!

Where do you lie in playing the music, the haunting music
And its melody,
Which I have not heard for so long,
Which want I to hear and listen to,
Making them listen to and catch in!

Your music is the music of kaal, the deadly snake as kaal dancing,
Swaying and taking us away,
The dance of kaal, blackly time, the creational time
And the stories in making,
The things darker and nocturnal.

But the pins of your music, none came to realize it,
The sadder and gloomier tunings of your own,
The daredevilry of yours
That you playing with the deadly kaals,
The deadly creatures as kaals,
That you making them dance with your music,
O, you!

None but you all alone in the company of snakes,
Vipers and cobras,
Playing the instrument and experimenting with
And searching,
Where are you, friends
And after locating them, catching them
Through the spell and charm of your strange music
Which hear I in the tales of Ma Manasa and Shitala and Bihula and Lakhinder,
Rohit and Sabya and Savitri and Satyavan.