Waharu Sonavane, "Stage" (poem)
nor were we called.
With a wave of the hand
we were shown our place.
There we sat
and were congratulated,
and “they,” standing on the stage,
kept on telling us of our sorrows.
Our sorrows remained ours,
they never became theirs.
When we whispered our doubts
they perked their ears to listen,
and sighing,
tweaking our ears,
told us to shut up,
apologize; or else…
Waharu Sonavane, "Stage" (translated from Marathi by Bharat Patankar, Gail Omvedt, and Suhas Paranjape; Interview by Prachi Patankar, towardfreedom.org, 5 Oct. 2012)