There Are Still Some Words Left to Say

There are still some words left to say,

There are still some words left to hear.

There are still some promises left to fulfill,

There are still some debts left to repay.

An untitled poem still needs to be given a name,

A tree made of words still needs to be nurtured with care.

For those who departed without saying a word,

I still need to keep a silence in their memory.

From this world of give-and-take, to those souls who left taking nothing,

I still need to ask—who truly owns the wealth they earned?

The ledger of pending accounts is still incomplete,

The accounting of debts to the divine is still incomplete,

The accounting of one’s patriotism is still incomplete.

Before the dawn arrives, those uncounted, sleepless nights of age

Must be safely guided to the shore.

The Krishnachuda (Gulmohar) tree I planted no longer blooms.

In that garden where every single leaf has withered and fallen,

I still need to channel water once again.

To measure the distance between the earth and the sky,

Whatever life span I had has already run out.

And now, after staring at the horizon,

I just need to laugh a self-deprecating laugh at my own existence.

Straightening the hand that has just risen upward,

Erasing my own name from the chest of my beloved city,

I still need to utter one final word… “Farewell.”

—————–

— Ratnamaya Tripathy

Adhyayana, Balangir

—————–

Original Odia : Ratnamaya Tripathy

Translated by : Dr. Khyatimaya Tripathy