The Shared Mirror

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.