Poetry at Sangam

Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.

ADVERTISEMENTS HIDE MY FACE by Shankha Ghosh

(Translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha.)

All alone I wait for you
In the lane I find my place
I think of giving you a glimpse
But advertisements hide my face

I think I’ll signal with my eyes
A simple truth or maybe two
They glitter in the gaudiness
Of advertisements coloured blue

It’s hard to tell how one man sees
The other one – with love or scorn?
But oh my exaggerations
But oh the land where I was born

Once my eyes were locked with yours
But now my glances have been sold
The neon creates commodities
Of private stories never told

All the things I meant to say
Are in that lane now, languishing
But my mask, so exhausted,
Dangles from the advertising

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