Untitled Nightlong lay submerged in a dark river. Woke up to find small pebbles on the palm, not smooth not wet
Translated from the Malayalam by Binu Karunakaran
Name
Stood gazing at birds that scribble things on all days before they return the washed dishes were racked slanting on the shelf bruised finger burns some lines written were struck off this is what remains: every plant has a name felt like having seen a child at the tip of tongue who touches the cusp of all leaves and calls them names
Translated from the Malayalam by Binu Karunakaran
M.P. Pratheesh is the author of several collections of poetry and essays in Malayalam. His poetry and art can be found at various places, including Modern Poetry in Translation, Almost Island, the Portside Review, Indianapolis Review, Guftagu and Indian Literature. He was awarded the Kedarnath Singh Memorial Poetry Prize in 2022. His recent publications include Transfiguring Places and The Burial. He lives and works in Kerala.
Binu Karunakaran is a poet, translator and journalist based in Kochi, Kerala. He was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship for writing in 2012. Muchiri, a portfolio of poems on the ancient port city of Muziris, was commended by the prestigious Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets 2021, judged by a panel headed by the UK’s poet laureate Ruth Padel. A winner of Earth Journalism Network Fellowship in 2021, he currently works as senior associate editor with the News Minute.