Poem
Kamal Vora
No. 20 Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
No. 20Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
an old man has been standing
alone for a while.
Another old man
comes and stands silently
behind him.
The old man turns around
and sees the other
that looks exactly like him.
They smile vaguely
at each other.
Now, a third old man appears
and stands behind them
and one ahead of them.
A queue of old men begins to take shape.
Like a sentence being written on paper --
just when it appears to come to an end,
someone joins the queue.
The old man
is lost among the old men.
The old men stand
like an old man,
utterly alone.
© Translation: 2020, Naushil Mehta and Arundhathi Subramaniam
No. 20 Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
૨૦
એક વૃદ્ધ
ક્યારનો એકલો અટૂલો ઊભો છે
કોરા કાગળમાં એક ટપકું હોય એમ
બીજો એક વૃદ્ધ
એની પાછળ આવી
ચૂપચાપ ઊભો રહી જાય છે
વૃદ્ધ પાછળ ફરી જુએ છે તો
રંગરૂપઆકારે એ અદ્દલ એના જેવો
એ જ
બન્ને સામસામે ઝાંખું હસી પડે છે
ત્યાં ત્રીજો એક વૃદ્ધ પાછળ આવી
ઊભો રહી જાય છે
એક આગળ પણ
અને એમ વૃદ્ધોની કતાર થતી જાય છે
કાગળ પર લખાતું હોય કોઈ વાક્ય એમ
લાગે કે કતાર પૂરી થવામાં છે
ત્યાં તો કોઈક આવી ચડે
વૃદ્ધ
ખોવાઈ ગયો છે અનેક વૃદ્ધોમાં
વૃદ્ધો
ઊભા છે
એકલો અટૂલો એક વૃદ્ધ થઈને
© 2015, Kamal Vora
From: Vruddhashatak
Publisher: Kshitij Samshodhan Prakashan Kendra, Mumbai
From: Vruddhashatak
Publisher: Kshitij Samshodhan Prakashan Kendra, Mumbai
Poems
Poems of Kamal Vora
Close
No. 20 Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
No. 20Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
an old man has been standing
alone for a while.
Another old man
comes and stands silently
behind him.
The old man turns around
and sees the other
that looks exactly like him.
They smile vaguely
at each other.
Now, a third old man appears
and stands behind them
and one ahead of them.
A queue of old men begins to take shape.
Like a sentence being written on paper --
just when it appears to come to an end,
someone joins the queue.
The old man
is lost among the old men.
The old men stand
like an old man,
utterly alone.
© 2020, Naushil Mehta and Arundhathi Subramaniam
From: Vruddhashatak
From: Vruddhashatak
No. 20 Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
No. 20Like a dot on a blank sheet of paper
an old man has been standing
alone for a while.
Another old man
comes and stands silently
behind him.
The old man turns around
and sees the other
that looks exactly like him.
They smile vaguely
at each other.
Now, a third old man appears
and stands behind them
and one ahead of them.
A queue of old men begins to take shape.
Like a sentence being written on paper --
just when it appears to come to an end,
someone joins the queue.
The old man
is lost among the old men.
The old men stand
like an old man,
utterly alone.
© 2020, Naushil Mehta and Arundhathi Subramaniam
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