Kannada original: NAALE BELAGAADARE ನಾಳೆ ಬೆಳಗಾದರೆ
Poet: KAMALAKAR BHAT KADAVE
English translation: S. Jayasrinivasa Rao
WHEN IT DAWNS TOMORROW
This evening
My ears are crammed with pigeon squabbles
A slender cloud-line has branded the sky
The delusion of an anguished mind sees
everything covered in smoke as far as eyes can see.
Like the lies of the undeserving, the familiar hedge,
the light that doesn’t cast a shadow
White ants circling the trunk have reached the roots
My voice is nothing but a croak now.
How many cities has this path traversed,
all familiar shelters are distant now
Wherever paths beckoned I journeyed on
By turning itself into the destination, the journey has wound up.
A row of hero-photos on the wall in the verandah,
sparrows could have made their homes behind these
The heavy shield found among the junk
What a unique pattern is etched on it!
This evening
I want to see the termite-ridden house
My pockets brimming with children’s laughter,
I want to see the flower on the hedge beyond the courtyard
When it dawns tomorrow
I will have my hands full of tomorrow.
*****
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