No Matter the Way be Unknown - Mahadevi Verma- Trans. by
Vinay Dharwadkar
No matter the way be unknown , the spirit solitary
No matter, line the new moon’s enshroud
In kohl- touched tears today wash this gathered
cloud
Other eyes do not cry-
Pupils lightless, lashes dry-
Amidst a hundred lightings here
Lamplight danced, although this gaze was watery
Others’ may
be the feet that retreat; others’ that leave resolve to thorns and own defeat –
These feet that measure immortality,
Pledged to pain, incensed with creativity, by their
propagation will secure
In darkness dawn’s golden tapestry.
Others’ will be the biography whose elements
Will merge with nothingness, in dust its monument
That on which destruction falls today
I walk on everyday,
a continuum
on pearls,
a fete of
sparks, jubilant ,fiery
even if you send an embassy of laughter,
or spring,
that makes the leaf-fall- dark of angry
forehead softer-
you will find this breast unflustered,
anguish- water, dreams’ lotuses clustered;
know , this unity in solitude
in separation is binary:
no matter the way be unknown , the spirit solitary
