a poem by alokdhanva, translated from hindi
near the glistening railway tracks
those shoes of cloth lie
a man left them here
and vanished just a step ahead
because the world of shoes is only a step long
following the traveller passing in that direction
just a step behind
lie those old shoes of cloth
rainwater has settled inside them
due to the gusts of wind the rainwater moves like a leg
constantly getting wet those shoes are covered with mould
and on the thinnest layer of the earth
these shoes have even started sprouting
i can only think
of how many times in the crucial moments of a game
these shoes would have lit up like the sun!
inside these shoes paths full of dust and mountains
are scattered—-
the lost ends of voices and fields let them stay
the lost ends of voices and fields—
left out of the needs of man!
inside these shoes how many times
must the souls of drifting wanderers
have come down with the help of legs—
for months at once souls must have lived
inside these shoes—
outside roofs and kingdoms—
far above the ocean surface!
these shoes of cloth
are soft like cigarettes and handkerchiefs
just like cigarettes and handkerchiefs they are woven
like nests full of airs—
these shoes are fluid
unlike solid things of the world
like murder and rape
bending in grass and language
moving towards salt—
and for rats
these shoes of cloth are like the alphabet
from where they begin to nibble
wherever the world of shoes began—
shepherds must have reached there!
because there is a heaviness inside shoes—
that cannot be destroyed
because there is a heaviness within sheep even today
from where the ocean can be heard
and heaviness is such a thing—
where the seeds of sleep are safe
wherever the world of shoes began
animals must have reached there.
shoes— that are ancient
like boats are ancient
even if they have been made just yesterday
YOU ARE READING
ways of slowly dying ~ poetry
Poetry"life is slow dying. so are their separate ways of building, benediction, measuring love and money ways of slowly dying." ~ philip larkin
