Sushma Asur, "How Many Days?" (poem translated from Hindi)
Will the money from sold land last?
How many days will you break stones?
Why are you breaking stones on the fields?
You are breaking
Your own stomach, your guts,
And destroying yourselves.
How many days
Will the money from sold land last?
A day will come
When your children
Will light lamps with your blood
And search for it.
On that day, tears will fall from your eyes
Like the dried-up springs—
Drip, drip, gone…
Right now, everyone is selling off their land
To wear full pants, shoes, and slippers.
You are drinking liquor in excess,
Dancing yourselves into your mobile screens.
Tomorrow, nothing will be left.
Tomorrow, there will be nothing to even beg for.
Not even your language will remain.
Whose shoulder will you cry on then?
The mountains will be paved over in tar,
Crushed every moment
By countless brand-new model cars.
Translated from Hindi with the assistance of ChatGPT
Originally published in the Hindi anthology, "Kavi Man Jani Man" (2019)