Silent night

Tonight, like a ship in the wide ocean,
I am all alone in the boundless world.
In this long winter night of loneliness
I can find no joys in my favorite books;

Under the vast emptiness of the dome
Of distant planets and constellations
Not one heart is throbbing; there is no life
Between me and the giant lifeless stars.

I try to imagine you next to me
Smiling at me with your mysterious eyes.
Why do all the images of my life
Picture you and this unshaken silence?

The garrulous world talks itself to sleep
Over the squabbles of everyday life;
Only you remain, with the still silence
That is reward to my unwavering faith.

Diptesh Ghosh