I keep the door to the south closed. Out there Who knows, one day those night- faced three Who let their hair fly through the comb- teeth in the afternoon May summon you under their chignons! I have No pattern so black and thick to be able to bring you Back then somehow from the netherworld in my balls of wool
I am in the north. Knitting and purling, my two needles Will guard the other two directions. Only from the South Island The Sirens hint at danger. And their hair flies
I hold my breath lest you sniff the afternoon breeze.
Obsession I remember right here, in this humble room of mine, one day I saw a grim- coloured sleep gathering over my head. It was dusk, it was summer, so hot, yet looking up at that great mass l couldn’t find any hint of shelter. The darkness seemed to be a hunter, l heard in the darkness hunting cries and horns. And I wanted to fly away- over the forest, past my sleep, away into the distance somewhere.
After that tangled life, after that one- time approach, every riddle now seems so simple. I recognise me as a mystery, as a blind spirit averse to mysteries.
translated by Marian Maddern
Sanjukta Bandyopadhyay was born in Kolkata and raised in a suburb, Belur. She attended the local school, Presidency College, and Jadavpur University. She has authored more than twenty books of poems and has received some prestigious awards.