The kite

Ramakanta Samantaray

Translated by Sailen Routray

The installation "Tusch" by Nevin Aladağ (1972-)
Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org/Kaethe17

The kite is flying in a sky 

that is clean.

It looks really nice.

Only the spool is in my hand.

The kite has escaped

taking all the threads with it. 

I stretch my hands

but it doesn't reach.

Where is a hand though

that can reach the sky?

The kite is no longer mine.

It hurts, when I realise this.

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.