Inflammable

Joy Goswami

translated from the original Bengali by
Bhismadev Chakrabarti



strange, isn't it—
all through life
every single day, the one thing
that burnt most,
wouldn't go up in flames after all!

the mind

isn't touched by fire—
on the steel stretcher when you
                                    enter the furnace.


Published December, 2012


The original poem [Dahya (দাহ্য)] was first published in the noted Bengali periodical Desh (দেশ) along with other poems in a group titled Prem o Mrityur Kabita ('Poems of Love and Death', প্রেম ও মৃত্যুর কবিতা). It has been collected later in the book Aamar Shyamashree Ichhe Aamar Swagataa Iccheguli(আমার শ্যামশ্রী ইচ্ছে, আমার স্বাগতা ইচ্ছেগুলি), published by Ananda Publishers, Kolkata, in 2007.

Translated by Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Illustrated by Ananya Das. Author of several books and an illustrator, Ananya Das is based in Pennsylvania.

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