Some More Hindi Poems
and Their English Versions
1
2
3
4
5
1
LET THEM FLY AWAY
Let them grow wings
So that
Spreading them
They can fly
In the open blue sky
I know there is danger
In their attempting to measure
Its unfathomable depths
They can lose their way
And wander aimless
In its boundless expanse
They can burn their wings
Trying to reach the sun
But do not stop them
Let them fly away
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2
CONTRASTS
Your huge magnificent palace
Persian carpets on white marble
Soft, soft cushions caressing your back
Paintings bejewelling the walls
Your air-conditioner
Taming the June heat
With its steady feline purr
And your speech
Soft suave civilized -
Do they all prove
That my fifty-year long
Ordinary man’s life
Lined with denials
From end to end
Has been meaningless?
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3
EACH DAY
Every morning
People of this city
Set their homes ablaze
And flee
And every evening
After burning their dead
They retreat
Defeated
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4
AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH
In this photograph
This little girl
With her doll
Still looks like a chick
Stepping out of its egg-shell
I bought this book
Years ago
Now it’s old and yellow
Like a falling leaf
And my face
Watching this girl
A dry furrowed field
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5
THIS HOUSEWIFE
Enclosed within these walls
Of relationships
Of relationships
She often wonders
If ever that piece of the blue sky
Visible beyond the window panes
Could have been hers
Where she could fly like a bird
Her wings spread out…
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