Lake Echo, Dear By C. D. Wright In Hindi/Urdu Translation Poem by Ravi Kopra

goonjti jheel, pyaaray


roshni main vo aurat
kya asal main paD rehi hai
ya jo likha hai usko dekh rehi hai

dheemi dheemi varsha main chalta
kya vo aadmi nanga hai
ya varsha ne uski kameez ko paardarshik bana diya hai

lohay ki khatiya main vo laDka
kya so raha hai
ya neechay k spring main ungliaN laga raha hai

-to be translated


Lake Echo, Dear
BY C. D. WRIGHT

Is the woman in the pool of light
really reading or just staring
at what is written

Is the man walking in the soft rain
naked or is it the rain
that makes his shirt transparent

The boy in the iron cot
is he asleep or still
fingering the springs underneath

Did you honestly believe
three lives could be complete

The bottle of green liquid
on the sill is it real

The bottle on the peeling sill
is it filled with green

Or is the liquid an illusion
of fullness

How summer's children turn
into fish and rain softens men

How the elements of summer
nights bid us to get down with each other
on the unplaned floor

And this feels painfully beautiful
whether or not
it will change the world one drop