Odia Poems by Sudhir Kumar Meher/ Translated by Pitambar Naik

Migration 

 

Don’t think, I have been obsessed
with the blue sky.

As I don’t have a place to sit in peace
I am up in this vacuum.

Else, who loves to be in a foreign soil, 
leaving one’s own beloved land?

Mirror


Whenever you've come 
with intense love
I've upheld you
in a fathomless heart.

When you giggled, 
I giggled
when you screamed 
I screamed.

The stars of my eyes
reflected on all your needs.

This counts a lot 
just because of 
a bit of silver dioxide
behind the chest.

Else, who are you 
and who am I? 

The Past 


You're lonesome 
like a spinster gravely 
gazing at the moon
under the open sky.

You're obscured
like an antique and 
dogeared letter.

However,
it's like a bruised tigress
the sudden intrusion 
of yours proves that 
you're still alive.    

Famine


Further, the trees won’t bloom or 
bear fruits

with our conceited hands, we’ve
chopped up the wings of the clouds

there will neither be blood to drip
nor will there be thirst to be quenched
even if you squeeze the breasts.

Henceforth, fire will smoulder
the earth will crack open

and thousands of hands will elongate 
from there to throttle our necks.

The Forest 


The day when that stranger 
loaded you in his truck 

and transported you after 
maliciously tricking you  

the very day our heart was 
intruded by a sin

and then onwards you’re 
theirs, not ours.  

About the Poet & Translator:

Sudhir Kumar Meher teaches science in a high school with B Sc & B Ed degrees. He has 3 collections of poetry – Michha Udana, Mati Moha and Nirbak Ishwara. His awards and include Odisha State Level Short fiction Award, Vikash Bharati Puraskar, Vana Jyotsna Puraskar among many others. He grew up in Chicheiguda, Kalahandi in Odisha, India.          

Pitambar Naik is an advertising copywriter for a living. When he’s not creating ideas for brands, he writes poetry. His work appears or is forthcoming in The McNeese Review, The Notre Dame Review, Packingtown Review, Ghost City Review, Rise Up Review, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, The Indian Quarterly and elsewhere. He’s the author of the poetry collection, The Anatomy of Solitude (Hawakal). He grew up in Odisha and now lives in Bangalore, India.