Who is he?

Ramakanta Samantaray

Translated by Sailen Routray

Photo credit - A R Vasavi

Have you lost him?
Or is he lost?

From the other side of the window

a long hand stretches across 

saying, "Push off to sleep."

It put me to sleep

singing a lullaby

caressing my head.

I fall asleep.

The day passes,

and the evening gets over,

so does the night.

He has no presence,

even in my undivided sleep.

Despite having given his word

he does not come,

even in dreams.

One who is not there 

while one is awake,

isn't there 

even in dreams. 

When I look for him

I never find him besides me.

Never, 

ever. 

Note: The Odia original of this translated poem is sourced from the poetry collection 'Asaranti rekhachitra', published in 2022 by Bhubaneswar-based publication house Barsha Publication. The poet Ramakanta Samantaray, born in 1972, has studied painting at the Bibhuti Kanungo College of Art and Craft (Bhubaneswar), and Odia Literature and Language at the Utkal University (Bhubaneswar). His doctoral work was a meditation on contemporary theatre in Odia. With this combination of literature, language, and the visual arts, he has been constantly working to create hybrid narratives. Apart from being a painter, he has also published fifteen books, including collections of poems and short stories, and novels. He has written and published articles on art, artists, and monographs in Odia. He presently lives and works in Bhubaneswar.