I am sleeping peacefully
in a sinking boat
I will throw a net
and catch dream-fish.
I am a long distance traveller
on hot desert sands
I will kiss
the dates-like beauty of the oasis.
I am the moonlight
in Guja-raatri*,
the last breath
in the ruins of the destroyed Babri masjid,
I am the beheaded stalk of grass
in Kargil
I am sleeping peacefully
in a sinking boat
I will throw a net
and catch dream-fish;
I am the unheard
moment of silence on 9/11,
I am the Hurricane Isabel
which drowned
America,
I am the gathering wind of resistance
on the Cancun coast,
I am the fragrance
of the waves of tears welling up in the Tigris' eyes
I am fire, water
I am one soldier
among the lakhs
fighting in the battlefield
I am the soldier!
I am the battlefield too!
I am sleeping peacefully
in a sinking boat
I will throw a net
and catch dream-fish.
I am sitting
beside the grave, laughing,
I will play on my heartsrtings
the melody of life.
My translation of the Telugu poem 'nEnu' (from the collection of poetry 'Sivasagar kavitvam') by K.G. Satyamurthy (Sivasagar).
*Guja-raatri: a reference to the Gujarat carnage of 2002.