Poems by Suman Gun 

Senior

Embarking to write an article on your poetry, I realised that
You compose your poems like essays, thoughtfully, well-crafted but made up
Adept at construction, witty, picking up foldings
From your erudite studies to arrange the patterns of your craft
You yourself, in a conversational tone, informed the other day
A perfect line thought of
To be placed now, breaking stairs, step by step, to the topmost storey, nay to the rooftop attic
 
So many grains of sex in your writing, but the writing style is
Void of sex, the pure Passion of lustful cries in sex,
You lack those,
It can safely be said, your poetry is
A twenty-minute dispassionate, arrogant blue film.
 
 
The Literaeteur
 
I steal my way and sit beside the giant tree with my books and texts
 
A lifelong worth of writings and probables, toils and wonder
I realise the heavens are adorned with
In front of my eyes from the majestic tree
A leaf or two twirl down, in the wind of timed infinity

​
Translated by Mahuya Sengupta

Suman Gun is a well-known poet and essayist of Bengali literature.  Regarded as one of the finest poets of nineties, he did his PG and Ph.D from University of Calcutta. Originally from Kolkata, he is the founder-head of the department of Indian comparative literature of Assam university, Silchar.  He received a special award from Paschimbanga Bangla Academy in 2007 and received Krittibas award for contribution to poetry and poetics in 2008.  He has more than 35 books to his credit so far including 12 collections of poems. He participated as an invited poet and speaker in New York, Paris, Toronto, London & Dhaka. He has chaired a number of national & international seminars all over India & abroad. He has also acted as a reviewer of Indian languages publishing programme of Oxford university press. 

---

About the translator 
 
Dr. Mahuya Sengupta is a Professor and the Head of the Department of Biotechnology at Assam (Central) University, Silchar, with more than seventy high impact research articles to her credit. She is also a poet with eight books of verses to her credit in Bengali. She delves in translating Bengali, Hindi and Urdu poetry to English. Born in 1974, she studied at Presidency College, Calcutta and later at University of Calcutta.

---