Rajee Seth, Mughal Garden and The Sky Said, Translated from the Hindi by Arlene Zide and the Poet

Mughal Garden

We agree

The flowers are yours

The fruit are yours

The blades of lush grass are yours

The sentries are yours too.

We agree

That sky captured

within the four-sided courtyard is yours.

The wind that comes and knocks against its boundary walls

that’s yours too.

But you need to know

The roots are ours

The nourishing compost

is ours

All the sunlight in that chunk of sky in your courtyard —

that sky is ours

the light is ours.

The water flowing down from the hills is ours

The wind carrying seeds is ours

All the rest of the earth

is ours.

The Sky Said

The sky said:

It wouldn’t stay in water, not on land

not on the rusty earth, not in the basti

not in the city, not in the jungle

not on the trees, not in the houses

not in the body, not in the mind

not choosing anything, never leaving

It would remain intrepid

complete, everywhere

The house said:

I’ll cut you in two

shut the door

and make you stand outside.

The water said:

I’ll keep you within me

turn you into

a mere reflection.

The basti said:

I’ll make you my roof.

The earth said:

I’ll hold you up

in my arms

The tree said:

I’ll shoot straight up

and split your chest.

The mind said:

You are abstract

unreachable.

The body said:

I don’t want anything

untouchable

The sky laughed out loud:

lightning flashed

thundered

The rain started pouring

everywhere, on everyone.