Hungry Stones - 12 Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

(A poetic translation of a story by Rabindranath Tagore, kśhdhārto pāśhāņa, Hungry Stones, for convenience split in 13 parts) . It is set in blank verse with stanzas that rhymed in between.


XII

To office when I rushed to ask old Khan,
‘Tell me pray tell the meaning of it all',
And what I learnt from the old man was this:
A story of countless unrequited,
Unfulfilled longings, lurid flames of red,
Wild carnal pleasures raging within walls
Of the palace of ill repute, the curse
Of collective heart-aches of teenage dolls,
Of blasted hopes that made every stone nurse
A red grudge against evil perpetrators,
The thirst of hungry stones growing to gall,
O turning to core into prime haters,
Eager to swallow any living soul
Like a famished ogre on eating spree,
Not one that lived there three nights for a cause,
Could have escaped safe from the cruel jaws,
Maher Ali could— running from his reason free.


‘Is there any a way for my release? '
I asked, ‘of course there's to a man of means,
‘But far beyond tall hills, if you so please,
‘And yet, you well know how it all begins,
Tale of an un-blossomed bud at mid sea,
O fated to live at that haunted shore,
There scarce could a more pathetic tale be,
More heart-rending tragedy to the core'!
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Translations | 12.03.13 |