The world

Ramakanta Samantaray

Translated by Sailen Routray

Photo credit: A. R. Vasavi

I have cut you into tiny pieces

with the sharp sword of treachery.

Even then, you are still there.

You have forcibly made me stand

in the sand storm of hate and disgust.

I am still here though.

You have lost the oar on your side.

The other day, the oar on my side broke.

Even then

the boat moves on its own

at the mercy of the sea.

The question of

"Has the boat forgotten its path?

Or, have we lost our way?"

creeps inside us 

smacking it up. 

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.