After Midnight (The period between 12 and 3 a.m.)
by Mohan Rana
I saw the stars very far
As far as I am from them
They were visible in this moment -
moments of the twinkling past
In the boundlessness of darkness
These hours
pursue the morning in the night
And I can't decide
Am I living this life for the first time?
Or repeating it forgetting while living
the first moment of breath always!
Does fish too drink water?
Or the sun feel hot?
Does light too see darkness?
Does rain too always get drenched?
Do dreams too ask questions about sleep like I do?
I walked far, very far
When I saw the stars - saw them very near,
Today it kept raining all day long
and words kept being washed away from your face
The literal translation of this poem was made by Lucy Rosenstein
The final translated version of the poem is by Bernard O'Donoghue
© Poetry Translation Centre 2004-2012
Abdirahman Ahmed says:
Good job man, much respect!
Jailson Pereira says:
Brilliant poem, i loved it!
Gulbash Gulzameenvi says:
really amazing poem .....
Latika Singh says:
I really love this poem. So far. All of Mohan Rana's poems are fantastic.