Poems by Sapna Bhatt
|
Rendezvous
Even to say I want to see you despite your reluctance is a matter of grave dismay love expressed in the language of persuasion hardly remains love to meet is anyway a snooty phrase that’s fallen out with my fate to what distances does the earth tied to its axis extend all said and done sitting with two similar persons on this earth is so difficult if you ever meet me do so on the transverse line of my convulsing soul beyond the gawky geometry of my body if you ever untangle yourself from the chaos of this worldliness meet me in the infinite empty space between our hearts listen my love don’t recoil from your own shadow meet me under the cover of countless dark flowers your shadow made to bloom in my body if you can’t meet me in this birth then meet me in the lost manuscripts of my half-baked poems after I’m gone translated from the Hindi by Sarabjeet Garcha Places to Cry There were no places to cry no corner in the house made it easy to shed tears for a bit slicing an onion in the kitchen filled my heart with gratitude how else would the floodwaters flow out if even this little companion didn’t exist sobbing in bathrooms rinsed both body and mind revitalised I brewed tea put a wok of daal on the stove kissing my daughter I thought How soon this precious girl grew up the habit of crying rendered us not cowardly but brave between a snivel and a howl the will to live always smiled and gave the pluck to remain unshaken when I had whimpered to the heart’s content the clouds cleared and sunshine came the sun seemed brighter the earth more generous and the desire to live didn’t feel soft as a rose but beautiful and enduring like the unwanted hawthorn sprouting in my flowerpot translated from the Hindi by Sarabjeet Garcha |
Born in Kashmir, Sapna Bhatt completed her education in Uttarakhand. She holds postgraduate degrees in English and Hindi and is a teacher in the education department of Uttarakhand. Sapna has been publishing poems in various blogs and reputable magazines for a long time. Her first poetry collection, Chuppiyon Mein Aalaap, was published in 2022 by Bodhi Prakashan.
Sarabjeet Garcha is a poet, editor, translator and publisher. His five books of poems include All We Have, A Clock in the Far Past and Lullaby of the Ever-Returning, in addition to a volume each of poems translated from Marathi and prose from Hindi. He has translated several American poets into Hindi, including W.S. Merwin and John Haines, and several Indian poets into English, among them Mangalesh Dabral and Leeladhar Jagoori. He has received the Fellowship for Outstanding Artists from the Government of India, the International Publishing Fellowship from the British Council, and the Godyo Podyo Probondho Award. His poems have been translated into German, Spanish, Russian, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi and Hindi. He is the founder and editorial director of Copper Coin (www.coppercoin.co.in), a multilingual publishing company based in Delhi NCR.
|
