Permission

Basudev Sunani

Translated by Sailen Routray

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedoa.org/Raamleaks

May I be granted the permission sir!

May I rest for a while?

 

As per your order

the shades have been swept,

the goats have been fed,

your drains have been cleaned.

There will be no foul smell now.

 

I have bee beating 

the drums for your entertainment 

for ages now,

And my fingers crave for stillness.

May I rest for a while?

 

I feel the sweat of my forefathers,

my gods, my spirits.

 

Therefore, 

my dear sir,

an hour’s rest is almost salutary,

since I stink of sweat 

and of a few other things.

 

I wait for the sweet hour 

of your fulfillment

and some hint of completion 

of my fly-infested life.

 

Even waiting induces exhaustion, 

my dear sir,

especially after millennia.

Therefore, 

may I rest for a while, 

my dear sir?

As even a dork like me 

knows the arts of minor rebellions.

Translator's Note: Basudev Sunani (b. 1962) is one of the foremost poetic voices of his generation in Odia literature. He has a body of prose in the form of novels, monographs and essays in the language as well.