Le poème original

‘I’ll be gone’// rina chaudhuri 

Rub that cigarette butt against the wall
and come to me — but sit afar.
My skin is cold, you won’t like the touch.
O close the door... I don’t want the world
Eavesdropping on my last words,
this is my first dying you see —
I lack experience as such.

Are those tears that I see in your eyes?
Or is it the usual luster I am so fond of?
Don’t look away — I am still here and
this is the last you’ll get to see, so bear.
I am falling, you know, continuously —
and with great speed too,
and for the first time in all these years
I wish I could be you!
I am cold again, are the windows shut?
Then pull the blanket over me,
but be careful not to make a touch
I don’t want to see you flinch before I leave.
You smile! That’s warm and the only fire
I could fling myself into!
Yes, I know I am white but am just the same,
so, love me still, won’t you?
O, don’t look away, this might be my last
and I don’t know how to finish —
and I don’t know how to let you go
and I don’t know how to want no more
and I don’t know how to bid goodbye
and I don’t know how to willingly die!

But now I feel the ground coming close.
I’ll hit it soon before we come to know.
But as long as I am here, learn it from me,
stay away from death... or hide if you please.
And just in case you don’t know where —
I’ll tell you the secret, so come near.

In our pocketful of dreams, just you and me

For forever and ever shall together be!

It’s time, my fall is over and done;
now drop those tears, for I’m gone.

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