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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Poems by Kisan Sosa





















The inheritance

The stale old air we have inherited
The helpless prayer, we have inherited.

As a ceiling we got rusted tin
The wall of fear, we have inherited.

The back got the dried river of sweat
And the eyes had inherited the empty well.

The thirst in the corridor and in the house hunger
The mind had inherited the desire for a silent cry.

Where the self-esteem is wounded and screams,
Lying in a bleeding corner, we have inherited.

Wherein so many snakes move and move
that black box., we have inherited

Come on, let us turn into a sun and set afire
The night that is a nightmare, we have inherited.

(From Anauras Surya)
 This translation was included In the anthology
Lee, Nancy C. Lyrics of Lament: From Tragedy to Transformation. Fortress Press, 2009

 Do you hear it?


In a drop, the rain sings in chorus, do you hear it?
In the seed, lush green crop waves, do you hear it?
On the open road ants have come out in a row
Listening to the footfall , the walls are fissured, do you hear it?
In a busy workshop in the night a new sun is shaped,
The blows of the hammer echo in all directions, do you hear it?
A tent of a new sky is being formed
In the land new nails are being hammered, do you hear it?
The wall of ice will turn into a puddle and will evaporate
With a spark of light, the sun blasts, do you hear it?
Look, on the back of the time the sweat erupts
The mountain of the sparks is ceaselessly being dug, do you hear it?
Now the real flowers will blossom in all directions
Every branch screams with pain, do you hear it?
Like the waves of the sea, the words of a poet,
Every moment strike with rocks of time, do you hear it?

(From Anauras Surya)


You too


I have sucked from here and so have you
That’s the only door and from that very one
I have come here and you too have.

How one word has lingered here
One word has auctioned my honor
One word has inflated you like a balloon here.

We have driven the chariot on this earth with equal grace
It’s different that my head is bare without umbrella
You wear a peacock crown hiding your bald head here.

Here a totally innocent understanding has crossed the sea
To find one simple truth years have passed
With deceiving color a low bubble has fooled me.

You have burnt me in a dream
I will burn here and there you too will turn into ashes
You have awakened me with a flame, I, who is inflammable.

(From the anthology Eklavyano Angutho)

The Poet
Kisan Sosa
Kisan Sosa, born 4 April, 1939, is a retired Municipal corporation employee. He is a leading Gujarati poet. His collections of poetry are Anast Surya (1985), Anauras Surya (1981) and Surya Jem Dubi Gayun Harmonium (1992).His ghazals are an important contribution to dalit poetry as he initiated dalit themes in them for the first time. His address: Near Pranami Mandir, Saiyadpura, Surat 395003, Gujarat.

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