Mangalesh Dabral (India)

The Heavy Air
 
Tyrants there’s no place for you here
rulers there’s no throne here for you to sit on
governors there’s no chair vacant for you
heavyweights you wouldn’t even be able to stand here
plunderers you can’t step on this earth even once
despots there’s not a single man here
who will be able to endure your cruelty
interlopers you’ll be hounded out of here in the end
cannibals no matter how pointed your teeth and nails are
you won’t be able to wipe out humans
 
I say exactly all this when I am in a fix and at unease
the air around is heavy and hot like iron
evening a wilderness spread over a long distance
where nobody listens
having listened gives no answer
perhaps only this earth and its trees listen
which have given me shelter for long
perhaps this sky listens which spreads
overhead like a light hope each morning
perhaps that daughter of mine listens
 
who is seen going somewhere towards the future
and who sometimes turning around says
 
Papa are you saying something to me
 

Translated from the Hindi by Sarabjeet Garcha