Ultimatum: Yashwant Manohar

Yashwant Manohar

Ultimatum

See this row of sunsets in the cracks of my eyes

Tell me how to live if at each moment one dies,

In this decisive darkness I seek for words,brother

Like one enclosed in a forest of flames forever I smother

And what if raise a piteous cry

In this well-appointed cemetery

Or rage against this settlement

Of leafless cannibal trees

On these accursed lips summer fires arise, brother

Set aflame by stormy winds

And each vein is alight with lamps of deadly venom

Tell me what seas would cool this burn

Or tell me how to live as I die at each moment’s turn.

The day attacks, a terrorist in the land of my brain

And nights never cease, the soul is aflame

Serried ranks of bone confront me at every step;

They surround me, laughing hideously,

Throughout my generations.

Tell me what place of rest this barred breast can earn

Or tell me h live as I die at each moment’s turn.

The sky here owns not a spot

That would afford a shade

To my beheaded breaths

The roads look strange, brother,

And so is the air

The rains do not let me

Break into a moonlight clear

What kinships should I dwell on for a moment

As I draw a covering of ocean over me

I feel a foreigner among the people

Bearing the burden of such a bastard life

Steaming lava has dashed against my lips

O tell me what answer I should return

Or tell me how to live as I die at each moment’s turn.

Translated by Charudatta Bhagwat