Carnivora, A Poem By Raven Leilani In Hindustani Translation Poem by Ravi Kopra

shikari tumain nahin dikhlatay apna chaku-cHuri
apni be-gani ankhon se vo dekhtay hain tumari ankhon main
aur day jattay hain tumain dhood.

jab main dus saal ki thee
meri maan ne bataya kaisa hai mera shreer
kisi sharam-waram se nahin
saaf-saaf khul kar bataya mujhay
ta k main acHi tarah sama jaoo'n

kehnay lagi, dekh

yeh hai tera moonh es nayee haddi k neechay
yeh hai tera ghar tumari jhangon main
jis ki devaaron se nayey nayey ang bun jaatain hain
ya wo apna darwaaza khol bhethi hai mohabbat main.

main baDay saal na na karti rehi
meri na na shikari sunta na raha
mera na na us kay liyay haan haan banta raha
yeh na na aisa lafaz hai jo meri zuban main
kabhi kabhi haan haan kehta raha

***

the original in English

Carnivora

PREDATORS don't go around showing their cutlery,
they will look through borrowed eyes into yours,
lend you milk. When I am ten years old
my mother and I revise my anatomy
into the appropriate schematics until I am fluent,
can take the nomenclature raw, like a glass of egg.
This is my mouth, furnished with new bone.
This is the hacienda between my thighs,
preparing to fold limbs from its walls
or fall lank with moon.
I work on saying no for years.
This word can refract
around the shell of an ear
into dual translation.
This word in a woman's mouth
is spliced with mist.

- Raven Leilani