[Translation] The pencil

Confined inside its box,
to an impish sharpener,
the pencil extolled its virtue.
“I am like Saddam. The one,
who faced the noose with a roar.”
Soon arrived Maalu,
the owner of the box.
Into the mouth of the sharpener,
she thrust the pencil, and

Click…!!

Allah-o-Akbar!!





A poem in Malayalam by Abhirami
Translation by Vijay © 23rd July, 2007

[Transcreation] Vibrant paints

The pictures I painted,

they were vibrant as life.

Flowers, butterflies, grasshoppers, jasmine-clusters,

a small boat tiding over the river,

even a ball of fire playing hide and seek

from behind the hills.

Then I painted some dark clouds.

In their ruthless downpour,

my submerged imagination spread.

The wily wind took it away in its fold

On its face was a crooked smile,

in my eyes, a tear drop.

A poem in Malayalam by ABHIRAMI

Transcreation by Vijay © 22nd June, 2007

About Abhirami:

She is a sixth grade student in the Upper Primary Government School at Edappal in District Malappuram, Kerala. Her poems have been published in Mathrubhumi's publications like Kutti-dot-com and Eureka.

[English Ghazal] Despair

In the city of dreams it rains no more
Urchins sing from her lanes no more

Silence breaks when Vultures flap wings
Can hear those lullaby strains no more

The green sheath she wore was shorn, not shed
Parched is her skin, but it pains no more

In her veil are concealed a thousand wounds
She tries breaking the chains no more

A million words that she taught me to speak
This ghazal is for her, with refrains no more

“Mahfuuz”, to fate you too succumbed, it seems
Blood flows but rebels in your veins no more


Vijay © 5th July, 2007