Bina Sarkar Ellias

Five Poems in English with Translations into Spanish, French, German

She Wears the Weight of Centuries

English – Bina Sarkar Ellias. Spanish Translation by Isabel Miguel

for artista Krishna Murari

she wears
the weight
of centuries——
centuries of
womanhood.
from the
dregs of time,
she claims
a sanctum
to sculpt
her resilience
into a torch,
that will light
the corridors
of medieval
minds; that will
burn the forest
of male
presumption;
that will ignite
the embers
of her atrophied
soul.



Spanish

Ella carga el peso de los siglos
para artista Krishna Murari

ella lleva
el peso
de siglos--
siglos de
ser mujer.
desde 
los posos del tiempo,
ella demanda
un santuario
para esculpir
su resistencia
en una antorcha,
que ilumine
los pasillos
de las mentes medievales:
que queme el bosque
de las arrogancias
de los machos.
que prenda
las ascuas
de su alma atrofiada.

Woman at the Window

English – Bina Sarkar Ellias. Spanish Translation by Isabel Miguel

For artist Caspar David Friedrich

there she is
framed by a window——
tidy hair and
uncombed mind.
tranquil eyes
and unquiet
thoughts
that run amok
beyond the
view of a life
stacked in neat
years of rituals——
daughter, spouse,
mother, grandmother,
robot, orphan of
circumstances.
the window
is her anchor.
she stands there
framed by a prayer
that will one day
set her free.


Spanish

Mujer en la ventana
para artista Caspar David Friedrich

ahí está ella
enmarcada por una ventana--
cabello ordenado y
mente despeinada.
ojos tranquilos
e inquietos
pensamientos
que corren enloquecidos
más allá de la
visión de una vida
apilados 
los pulcros años de rituales--
hija, cónyuge,
madre, abuela,
robot, huérfana de
circunstancias.
la ventana
es su ancla.
ella se queda ahí
enmarcada por una plegaria
que un día
la hará libre.

From the Spanish-English book Cercana Lejania / Nearer Farness

Stray Words

English – Bina Sarkar Ellias. French Translation by Philippe Safavi

stray words 
like smoke 

unfurl in 
the by-lanes 
of night;

curling up 
and in 

through 
a window
left open 

for vagabond 
thoughts

and itinerant 
dreams.


French

Les mots errants
 
les mots errants
telle la fumée

se déploient
dans les ruelles
de la nuit ;

ils s’enroulent 
et se glissent

par une fenêtre
laissée 
ouverte

pour les pensées
vagabondes

et les rêves
itinérants. 

I Wake Dead Spaces

English – Bina Sarkar Ellias. French Translation by Philippe Safavi

i wake dead spaces
stir ancestral dust
and mute stones
from their epic sleep.

i unlock doors
of trapped parables
engraved with
memories deep.

i rouse the foetus
of burning thoughts
that slumber in
my mind's keep.

i undo the tyranny
of coherence,
and an intangible 
beauty reap.



French

Je réveille des espaces morts

je réveille des espaces morts,
je remue la poussière ancestrale
j’extrais les pierres muettes
de leur sommeil héroïque.

je déverrouille les portes
de paraboles captives
dont le cœur est gravé 
de souvenirs stoïques.

je ranime l’embryon
des pensées ardentes
qui sommeillent dans le donjon
de mon esprit critique.

je renverse la tyrannie
de la cohérence,
et récolte une beauté
impalpable. 

Ode to allen Ginsberg

English – Bina Sarkar Ellias. German Translation by Johannes Beiharz

Ode to Allen Ginsberg
"light a candle and
continue the dance" ~Allen Ginsberg

he wrote
with blood
from the sinews
of his veins
each syllable
burning
the yellowed
parchment
of his
turbulent life
his words
like a blue flame
scorched
his critics

and danced
with the howl
of a saint-man.


German

Für Allen Ginsberg
"Zünde eine Kerze an und
fahr mit dem Tanze fort" ~Allen Ginsberg

Er schrieb
mit Blut

aus den Flechsen
seiner Adern
jede Silbe
verbrannte
das vergilbte
Pergament
seines
stürmischen Lebens
seine Worte
wie eine blaue Flamme
versengten
seine Kritiker

und tanzten
mit dem Geheul
eines heiligen Mannes.

Bina Sarkar Ellias is a poet, and the founder, editor, designer and publisher of International Gallerie, an award-winning publication since 1997. Besides, she is a fiction writer and art curator. Her books of poems include The Room, Fuse, which has a Mandarin edition (and has been taught at the Towson University, USA), When Seeing Is Believing, Cercana Lejania / Closer Farness and Song of a Rebel.