Elder Mother Poem by Kanishka SricharanPratap

'This is your school mat.'
'This is your gunny mat.'
'This is your leaf pot.'
'This is your hat.'
'This is your playing wheel.'
Says my elder mother!

By palm leaf
Stemy grass and reeds
She knits and knits...
Carpet, rush-mat
Tray and basket,
Whenever
All those are needed.

Such a big family is ours
Nothing is purchased
From market or fair.

Sometimes
Red and blue colours
Purchased for her.

Elder mother mixes colours in tears
And colours knitted things!
Among these
Her empty fair hands,
Obscured face of my elder father
Who has been a star
In an immatured age
In the sky!

Visible to me alone!
Visible to me alone!



Translated from Odia by
Subash Chandra Mohapatra