Poems

খুলচিঙৰ গৰ্ভ কঁপাই চৰাই এজাক উৰি গ’ল
ছ্যামাদিত দৰক লাগিলহি ভীমৰাজৰ মাত
অৰণ্য ভেদি বাজি থাকিল তাইৰ শৰীৰৰ চাৰাংকাত

ৰাতি প্ৰাচীন
ৰাতি পিচল
ৰাতি এটা বাট

ৰাতিৰ দুয়োকাষে সাধুৱেই সাধু
তাই চৰাই হয় গছবোৰে সিঁচা গুটি খাই
তাই চৰাই তাইৰ শৰীৰ চাৰাংকাত

ৰাতিৰ কোলাত কপাহগুটি হৈ সৰিছিল শব্দ
পাহাৰীয়া চৰাইৰ সাধু কাক শুনোৱা যায়?
অৰণ্য ভেদি বাজি থাকে তাইৰ শৰীৰৰ চাৰাংকাত।

It was my body
Where the first stone of civilization was laid upon.
In the purest simile of your imagination
I'm a beautified romantic idea,
A woman wrapped in a single cloth.
Toilsome, weary and desirable even in her blood- clotted period.
They say, it was for me that the rules were carved out of stones

The monuments of your infallible guarding surrounds my body.
As if my body is a fortress
Covering your manhood from my own being sunk in blood
Am I not the mirror to your deepest fears?
One day, over the altar of your worship ground
History of my body shall be unveiled.
Screams of demons born from my unchaste blood
Will crush the walls of your chastity.
In the fortress of your manhood my birth would repeat itself.
That day I will reveal myself to you.
I am Tejimola.

Note:
Rajaswala: An Assamese term derived from Sanskrit, meaning a woman undergoing her monthly menstrual cycle. Menstrual customs in India, especially Assam are highly patriarchal and regressive for women.
Tejimola: A young girl in Assamese folklore who is tortured and killed by the stepmother but is reincarnated again and again in various forms of nature, and finally returns back to her human form after multiple reincarnations.

Translation: Maitrayee Patar

Biography Maitrayee Patar