After Our Meeting

Kedar Mishra

Translated by Sailen Routray

 

Ground Agama in water, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa
https://commons.wikimedia.org/Charles James Sharp

After our meeting,

all that you saw

was an illusion.

 

That golden deer;

an illusion.

The demoness who had worn lipstick;

an illusion,

The brahma-rakshyasa sitting on that tall tree;

an illusion.

 

I am a strand of grass riding the wind.

I am afraid of the wind and the fire.

I am afraid of sorrow and doubts.

I am afraid of the angry, swift time;

and of sharp, fast breaths as well.

Now you’ll tell me,

That I, myself, am also an illusion.

 

There is nothing called an illusion.

Your coming and walking away in a huff,

your love making

and strewing embers all over my body,

you becoming my body

and getting free of my body,

all this is real.

The only illusion is

the darkness that comes

when the earth turns on its side.

Note: This is the English translation of the original Odia poem 'Aamara Dekhaa Helaa Pare' by Kedar Mishra, from his latest poetry collection titled 'Sosara Sthapatya'. This volume has been published in April 2022 by Barsha Publication, Bhubaneswar. Misra (b. 1971) was born in Sonepur and now lives in Bhubaneswar. He is a leading Odia writer and editor of his generation, and has a body work  as a translator and cultural critic as well. He has published several collections of poetry including Shunya Abhisara (2003), Raga Kedar (2008), Premara Dura Geeta (2014), and 'E Nuhen Mora Desha' (2020). Among other honours, he is the winner of Utakla Sahitya Samaj Youth Writer Award for the year 2014.