Jacinta Kerketta, "Can You Return?" (translated poem; 2019)
In my village today
Why has that emptiness
Spread far and wide?
Those old trees have been cut down
And
Desolation stretches far
That dear river
Which is shrinking in the lap of sand
Smoke now rises from the chest
Of mountains
The forest burns fiercely
Then burst forth again
In search of black gold
Flames from innocent Mother Earth's womb
Everyone is fleeing from the forest
Leaving behind mud houses
Searching in concrete cities
For just a roof
To hide their heads
From the fragrant soil of the village
Now comes the smell of gunpowder
Lost from my forest now
Is the chirping of golden birds
Before joining my community
Think - can you return?
The stillness of my village's river
The fragrance of mahua and
Mango blossoms in my forest
That muddy footpath
And
In the sunlight
The gleam of soil
In my fields
The sweetness hidden in my language
And the firm faith of my heart
Translated from Hindi with the assistance of ChatGPT
First published in the Kavi Man Jani Man Anthology