Rose Kerketta, "I Will Not Go To the Kindgom of Bhutan" (translated poem; 2019)
Don’t scold me, Mother. Don’t scold me, Father.
I will not go to the Kingdom of Bhutan, Grandfather.
This is my birthplace, here too shall be my death.
This earthbound place, Grandfather—no,
I will not go to the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Here live the forest kings, the wild buffalo, the bison,
Tigers, boars, my friends—
The springs, the rivers, joy and laughter,
The owl, the parrot, the crow and the myna,
The runiya bird and the besra hawk—
I will not go to the Kingdom of Bhutan, Grandfather.
The fig tree, banyan, kend-chironji, behra and amla,
Silk cotton, sal, tiriyo, koroya,
Asan, koynar—
Your friends and mine play here in jhāk-jhūmar (a joyful tribal dance)—
I will not go to the Kingdom of Bhutan, Grandfather.
No, I do not crave gold or silver,
nor heaps and heaps of money.
Wisdom, intellect, and knowledge—
these I shall earn, these I shall treasure.
They must be gathered with care.
Let me go, Grandfather—
I will not go to the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Poem translated from Hindi with the assistance of ChatGPT
Originally published in the Kavi Man Jani Man anthology (2109)