Málá ke moti es rákhi jhalke, Like threaded pearls on a string the ash
buni jes. gleams droplets.
Yád ke guthe khát bát men ched kareke hoi, In order to string the memories
bát ke bartáw ke bháw kareke hai. words needed piercing
weighing the worth of their usage.
≈ ≈
Je sánp máre khát khud apne láthi banal
apne burhápá men je apne-áp ke láthi bánais,
oke láthi páwe men ká láthi khoje ke pari?
Je lálac men phasie sát samundar pár
jái garal,
besat giral jaise bijli se katal dar phekái ke.
Káhan badhuá kahán chutuwá major,
kasur ke ná bát rahá.
Mehnat men moh aur moh men mehnat,
ekke dusar men ghuse dunu ke jiye ke sáth rahá.
He who to kill a snake became himself
a stick,
he who in his old age turned himself
into a stick,
why would he to find a stick look for a stick?
He who in the grip of the lure crossed
the seven seas,
then squalled
crashed like a branch struck by lightning.
Slave labor, free labor ̶ what's the difference?
guilt is not the issue here.
Transfixed by toil, toiling in wonder,
toil and wonder could continue
to exist hand in glove.
(from "Poems" © by Jit Narain, Paramaribo 2003)
[translated from Sarnámi by D. France Olivieira/W.W.]
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 