An Evening : Nungthil Ama
Hijam Irabot Singh *
It has become unbearable to put on clothes,
Hari Nongnang raised the scorching heat by its shrill.
It felt exasperated beyond endurance
even the sky too got parched.
The belly that have touched the spine
of bone statue
shouted from underneath;
"Give me rice only a palmful."
The bone above the ground shouted;
"No, shut up."
Between the row of hungry teeth
sharp pointed tips of bayonet
jumped with dazzle,
all the bones were lamenting.
Just heard a laughter
by suppressing the wailing,
as if that of the laughter of Satan
at the crematorium ground.
The songs of cuckoo too
got parched by sunlight.
The wind became over parched,
blown away bit by bit.
On the road that yield charcoal
the bone rallied
and sang louder;
"Let's go, let's go altogether
Motherland has called us".
It's got parched, blown away everything
as bit by bit
burnt out by sunlight
of the evening sun's rays.
Louder, again sang louder;
"Except their children, mother's misery
could be relieved by whom."
Bone besides the road;
bone lies underneath the ground;
all the bones shouted,
shockingly shouted-
"Helpless sort of poor slaves!
Helpless sort of poor slaves!''
(1942-43)
Hari Nongnang (Pomponia sp.) An insect found stridulating on the bark of the tree during the summer season.
Manipuri : Nungthil Ama
Translated by. : Soubam Tomba Luwang
* Poem written by Hijam Irabot and translated by Soubam Tomba Luwang for Hueiyen Lanpao (English Edition)
This poem was webcasted on February 16 2015.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.