Thursday, December 30, 2021

A POEM IS NOT A HASTILY SCRIBBLED RECEIPT - English translation of SUMIT METRI's Kannada poem ಥಟ್ ಅಂತ ಬರೆದು ಕೊಡುವ ರಸೀದಿಯಲ್ಲ ಕವಿತೆ THATT ANTHA BAREDU KODUVA RASEEDIYALLA KAVITE

Dear friends, here is an English translation of the Kannada poem “Thatt antha baredu koduva raseediyalla kavite” ಥಟ್ ಅಂತ ಬರೆದು ಕೊಡುವ ರಸೀದಿಯಲ್ಲ ಕವಿತೆ by our young Kananda poet SUMIT METRI ... SUMIT, with a lot of love and affection, had sent me his collection of poems bearing the same name as this poem, and wanted me to respond ... I told him that I will, of course, read the poems, but I don’t feel I am equipped enough to respond critically to poems, but, I will attempt to translate a couple of poems into English and that would be my response ...  

 

Kannada original: Thatt antha baredu koduva raseediyalla kavite

ಥಟ್ ಅಂತ ಬರೆದು ಕೊಡುವ ರಸೀದಿಯಲ್ಲ ಕವಿತೆ

Poet: SUMIT METRI

English translation: S. Jayasrinivasa Rao

 

A POEM IS NOT A HASTILY SCRIBBLED RECEIPT

 

A poem is not a 

hastily scribbled receipt

You have to wait 

for that moment

for the flower to bloom

for the sun to rise 

Do not run after it

Does catharsis need 

A resumé?

 

Unexpressed!

 

You might remember

‘The hare and the tortoise’ 

That ego pricks you like a thorn

That snaky contortions can’t get you there 

It should waft in like

an anonymous draught

Spitting at the sky won’t help

A poem must become an utterance

A meditation

 

Unexpressed!

 

*****


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