Poem translated by Uma D. Sridhar
I walked upon shards
And reached my tent
The paper opened its arms
My eyes shed blood
And words began to take shape
Poem translated by Hoshang Merchant
Wearing a Burqa
Wearing a burqa
I took a degree,
Also took to computers
And outshone others easily.
Ammi was happy,
Abba was very happy.
Hadn't I lifted Sinai single-handedly?
To crush the world underfoot
was my heart's desire.
Each breath said,
become a conqueror,
an Alexander in burkha!
I went out to have fun.
Entering the cinema
I was stopped by the moral squad
wagging their rods.
Hey young girl,
burkhas not allowed entry.
Black smoke rose from my black mask
and off the burkha went!
Poem Translated by Kelly Jo Cigman
Rising one by one
Rising one by one the corpses set out
Bathed in the light of the western moon
The bones washed away
The air is filled with a new chemistry
Breaking a fresh star with each footstep
There can be no more compromise
Death cannot reign thus any more
Bombs unceasingly made and scattered across the earth
People dying and rising from graveyards
Are you at peace having sold the country?
The rivers afloat with our corpses
The streets steeled with spilt blood
Do you not see the corpses wherever you turn?
Dealing with a python
Sifting and selling each hope, one by one
You sold the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea
Selling your country
How are you at peace with yourself?
From the shore the fisherfolk speak.
Our corpses fill the ocean
The worn-out bones rising and tossed by the waves.
We dart through the ocean like currents
Who can escape the fisherman's net?
What if you sell our uranium?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki can happen again.
The slumber is deep, but the people cannot sleep
All are innocent but none ignorant
No, not drunk nor forgetful
Again Bhopal speaks
We are dead; no one could kill us
Crippled, we walked to Delhi
There can be no more compromises.