[Translation] Etching Time

Etching Time

Whatever I’ve heard learnt and experienced
it’s all yours, all for you
as in Time you have etched

What did I see?
What did I experience?
What should I etch?
Should I erase what you wrote
with the ashes of a Sati
and then sing about mothers
who lived and died asphyxiated at the hearth?
Should I narrate how the devils ran amok,
within the dark confines of closed doors and windows,
smearing me with their sweat?
Or should I disclose
how you wiped clean all my small treasures,
my earrings, my anklets?
Tell me, how should I etch my history?

A poem in Kannada by D. Saraswati
Translated by Vijay © 17th March, 2006