Mourning Kanjikaa

Mourning Kanjikaa

The first night:
 
flour
is spilt
on the floor
 
Perhaps she’ll come
She will come –
She will come and leave a footprint
 
Perhaps we’ll sleep
We will sleep –
We will sleep all through our mourning
 
Perhaps she’ll see
She will see –
She will never see us again
 
Perhaps we’ll tear
We will tear
We will tear out our hair
 
Perhaps she’ll stop
She will stop
She will stop halfway
 
Perhaps we’ll forget
We will forget
We will forget ourselves in grief
 

This poem was discussed in the workshop and then Gagan Gill made some very helpful comments on Sarah Maguire’s final version.

Lamenting

The first night
 
Dry flour is scattered
on the ground
 
She'll come
she'll come
leave her footprint
and go
 
We'll sleep
we'll sleep
though mourning we'll sleep
 
She'll see
She'll see
she'll see us no more
 
We'll pluck
we'll pluck
at dawn we'll pluck our hair
 
She'll stop
she'll stop
in midway she'll stop
 
We'll forget
we'll forget
in this very grief we'll forget
 

Original Poem by

Gagan Gill

Translated by

Lucy Rosenstein with The Poetry Translation Workshop Language

Hindi

Country

India