How Distant You Are!

Bijeta Chaudhary

A hard time
is passing
between you and me.

Though you are before me
You are quite distant
Neither in air
nor in wind
Can I feel that fragrance
which I am very familiar with
which I am habituated to.

The craze for living
is dying
What a pitiable life this is!

Just tell me—
how in the lockdown period
You took out your heart and kept aside;
Wouldn’t the beating stop?

Yes, everything is coming to a halt
Only breathing is there in the lockdown
and hope for you
and certainly a glimpse of you
Just tell me
Shall I remain living without you
without the warmth of your breath?

From your presence
how can I run away?
Neither some untouched wind
nor some hard time
possesses any freedom
which, between you and me
may erect a wall between us.

I accept it’s really a helpless time;
We have been forbidden to come in contact.

The touch of  yours
is a therapy for me
without which I cannot imagine to live
even for a moment.
But we have been residing in each other’s minds as usual;
So how can any disease
dare to reach us?

Even time doesn’t possess
such a license
so that it might
erect a wall between us.

[Translated from Maithili into English by Ayodhyanath Choudhary]