Belief

Ramakanta Samantaray

Translated by Sailen Routray

 Doorway and wall on Latsakhanai Road, Savannakhet, Laos
Photo credit - commons.wikimedia.org/Dominic Nelson

We walked together for so long.
But we lost our feet
somewhere halfway through the path.

We talked so much

about home, about stars, about dreams.

But we lost our words

somewhere halfway through the path.

Despite all the camaraderie

you thought I am hiding 

a sharp knife tucked somewhere on the waist.

Despite all our acquaintance

I could not know you. 

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.