I'll Come To You
crossing the bridge of the fresh grain's sweet scent
I'll come to you
just as soon as you accept my words
I'll come to you
like the cloud
that approaches the mountain summit
and swallows it
only those whose heads are raised
will be able to see it
I want to come to the desert
inside your mind
I'll come
but not like the barbarians do
and not like a bullet
striking its target
I'll come
I'll come like new life
comes to a beaten-down
exhausted soul
The Waiting Place
in the sky
the stairs of today's music
are covered with tomorrow's leaves
that we must descend
I am here
on the mountain peak
of music
hundreds of years old
the world today
is filled with the scent of
freshly dug-up earth
shaking each coal fire
from the womb
My Story
my story
is a story about
a worn spade
a shuttered factory
a rough road
my story
is a story about
rock tuned to sand
trees turned to kindling
charcoal turned to fire
my story
is a story
of endless change
For Tomorrow
deep in some sleepy world
having heard the sound of a muffled bullet
the girl is filling the vase with water
deep in some sleep world
having taken off her socks
to see how her bare feet shine
the girl is sewing a button to her shirt
deep in some sleepy world
in the forest that meets the river
a bridge
made out of windows
descends
and the girl covers it with leaves
to save
for tomorrow
________________________
Leeladhar Jagoori
What of the Earth Was Saved
TRANSLATED BY HINDI BY MATT REECK
World Poetry, 2024
