Shadow Of The Throne Poem by Pradip Saikia

A snake
In the carpet of slumber of the king
A live angst

Jumping over the moat
The insane fire can lick the palace

An unchained untamed tiger
Can roar

If the dead boys wake up
In the stalled juncture of white nights

If the burnt out pyres
Lit up

If a herd of dried out fingers
Grows up again

In the night of the valley
The child growing up through fire and whirlpool

Women in innocent sleep
Under the burning arrows

The pain of the unhealing abscess
On the palate of the king

The drawn up hood of a cobra
A strike


Let the stalking paws be encaged
The pen is the unfailing arrow
Of which hunter

Let us arrest
Banned fury
Tainted words
Stain of the ink

Let us arrest
Vaunting of hunger
Light seeking eyes
Target of the dream

An uncaged independent roar
What is its fault
For being a bull Royal Bengal Tiger

A restive flag that has grown wings
What is the crime
In askingfor an open sky

A red sword getting burnt by a fire
What is the crime
In being cruel angry

The cries ricocheting from the sacrificial alter
Will shake the seat of power

After devouring fire
The perched stone wells
Will scream

The forehead will smear
Blood vermilion

Phuleswari will be war-monger
The throne will lose its shadow

# Translated from Assamese to English by: Bibekananda Chowdhury