An eye had wandered, to another’s beloved, her leg. <br />When, carelessly, her sari lifted just a little - <br />Outside, the rain comes down. A lantern’s been lowered underneath the table, in the dark <br />Now and then the fair lustre of a hidden foot drifts up... <br /> <br />The fault is not in the eye. There was no choice but to look. <br />Wasn’t there? Why? -- Rainspray rushes in noisily <br />Wasn’t there? Why? -- Flowering bushes leap on barbed wire <br />Wasn’t there? Why? -- From the one who has no right <br />Everything is concealed by a fringe of embroidered lace... <br /> <br />Now the rain has stopped. Now she too has left the room. <br />Only, the breeze returns. Only, like the eye of a powerless man <br />From time to time the lantern beneath the table trembles. <br /> <br /> <br />[Translated from 'Ekti Brishtir Sandhya' (Bengali) by Oindrila Mukherjee]<br /><br />Joy Goswami<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-evening-of-rain/
