Keep Quiet

Basudev Sunani

Translator - Sailen Routray

Snakelocks anemone, Arrábida Natural Park, Portugal
Photo Credit - Wikimedia Commons/ Diego Delso

Does a child

born in the battlefield

fear the mere clanging of swords?

Does a burning wood

fear a mere bushfire?

Now please shut up ma.

Although beaten down,

you son still has the energy left

to suckle long and hard at your breast.

Although some stray pieces

of straw and bamboo

have been lost in transit,

enough has been left

to build a hut for penance.

Now please shut up.

Translator's Note: This is a translation of the poem 'Chup Ruha' from the collection 'Anek Kichhi Ghatibar Achhi' - 'Many Things Are Yet to Happen' - published in 1995. This English translation was first published in the year 2013  in the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi periodical Indian Literature in its 277th issue. Basudev Sunani (b. 1962) is one of the foremost poetic voices of his generation in Odia literature. He also has a body of prose in the form of novels, academic monographs and essays in the language.