Bengali Poetry (Translated)

Beloved, Some Lingering Pull

Just before dawn breaks, before light blooms, the scent the breeze carries — 
for that alone I want to live one day more.
Born with the rare fortune of sitting down anytime, notebook and pen in hand, ready to write —
this is why I love being alive. My own words feel peaceful as sudden rain in fierce heat!

I want so much to live just to sew a green chain onto my little sister's white dress.
Writing letters, piling them up to surprise my beloved one day —
this is why staying alive feels so delicious to me.
November fourth, thinking what to do for his birthday —
even now it seems worth living until that date arrives.
Drawing beloved lines from poetry books, letting my soul taste heaven —
this is how I spend this life, making it mine.

Wearing an olive coat-sari and red high heels, stepping clumsily onto the stage
to recite the poem "Teja" — this has become my life's singular purpose.
Taking mother to see Paris — this is why I force myself to stay alive like this.

The struggles of village life, want and hardship, where love still peeks through
trembling like water gathered on taro leaves —
to write such a story, this pointless "I" has been alive since birth, even now.

Yes, for all these small feelings I remain alive! How strange!
Who doesn't find living hard! Yet people live on
because something beloved pulls them back.
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