[Translation] City

The pigeons perched upon my windowsill
admired themselves
looking at the rain-washed windows
waking me up
with their satisfied grunts.

Mornings have never been so clear.

Go slow, lest you skid,
the wet roads warn cars
They all seem newly built,
the high-rises carrying the sky in their arms
Neatly tended gardens glistened
with flowers of many hues.
Water flowed in small streams

Stationed a little far
a garbage-din
sounded a reminder-

Behind these mansions,
there is another dump you forget
of teeming populace
Large, unlike me

Dogs there fight over leftovers
On a plastic wire infested by worms,
clothes hang
Rain harvested water in mud pots await
their share of rice and spices

A cloth-cradle swaying on the tree,
probably sopping wet

Clothed in her red saree,
cheap lipstick smudged on her lips,
smelling of the lilac in her hair,
the one who left in the morning
sans an umbrella,
she seems to have dissolved into the rains.

A poem in Malayalam by T.P. Anil Kumar
Translated by Vijay © 14th March, 2006