Beyond Land and Time

The Cat

(Birāl)

Translated by Faizul Latif Chowdhury

All day I inevitably encounter a cat here and there

In the shadow of trees or out in the sun, around

the pile of fallen leaves;

I catch sight of him, deeply engrossed like a bee,

with his own self

Embedded in the skeleton of white soil

Having successfully spotted some bones

 of fishes somewhere;

But still, nevertheless, he scratches at the trunk

of the Krishnachura tree

All day he moves about stalking the sun.

Now he shows up here

The next moment he is lost somewhere.

I spot him in the autumn dusk playing around

As if, with his white paws, he is patting the supple body

of the saffron sun;

Then he nets up the tiny balls of darkness with his paw

And spreads them throughout the world.