[Transcreation] Highflier

This is how he justified, eulogized
his rented abode
on the top floor
of a fifty-storied building

Before sun shines
in the eyes of anyone,
I make it play on my lips

With a roll of string
and a paper kite,
I can leak rain from the clouds

In a garbage bag
I capture storms
With ease I capture moonshine
I relish the sounds of central A/C
as if they are the rumble of the waves below

I can see from here, on the moon,
shriveled flags, footsteps
and the angels
who flew off the stories I heard

If I shout at the top of my voice,
from seven skies across,
God sends back
shrill echoes

Even if all these
fail to camouflage my penniless life
in this fact I can take solace
that it is above the head of the rich
that I defecate each day

On a recent visit
to his rural roots
he committed suicide



Uchhasthan – A poem in Malayalam
by Kamruddin Amayam
Transcreation by Vijay © 19th October, 2006