Acrobat

She thought she knew acrobatics rather well.
That she could juggle time with both hands,
Play with the now, right next to the then,
She would make both dance, she thought, fist to fist—
And she would glide, so smooth, along the tightrope,
She thought she could do absolutely anything at all.

Only once in your life will the rope shiver.



“Acrobat” by Nabaneeta Dev Sen from Acrobat. English translation copyright © 2021 by Nandana Dev Sen. Reprinted with the permission of Archipelago Books and Nandana Dev Sen.