We present this work in honor of the poet’s 90th birthday.

 

I know, somewhere unknown to me
You dwell, oh soul mate.

I sing for you
You wait for my song,
Pained, when it is still.

You object, ” You do not write now-a-days”
You find my words familiar,
These are the lines I should have written
You tell me softly.
Your get teary eyed, at what wets mine.
Children’s faces, a tied up bird,
A limping little puppy,
The old face staring, sightless
Love which smiles simply at each other;
The disappearing twilight, saffron clad, young
The two garlands of rose petals, blackened by webs
Hanging inside a bedroom, on a nail of memory.
A song that eases, a pain in the heart, without reason;
A tender hand stretching, fearsome, skinny-
These that create tears in my eyes, make yours glisten too.
You lift your eyes wide, when my wings flutter.
You hum an old line, written by my pen.
Though you do not know my face, you know my spirit.
Thus, far away from me, you
Soulmate, you live.
When I think of you, my throat clears again.
My life is not in vain, my friend, when I sing for you.
My song is not in vain, my friend, when you hum along with it.

Translation by Ministhi S. Nair