the road

this is a translation of a meiteilon poem lambi by ranjit wahengbam that was originally published in the anthology atoppa khonjel by manipur-based naharol sahitya premi samiti in 1975

in the end
when my head was immersed
in hailstones
with the saddle
of the sun on my head
i saw the road

it was not a stone that was pelted
far away
it was not a gunshot
fired far away
it was none
that i wanted
but beyond the boundary
up to the boundary of boundary
and beyond that boundary
--for when the hollow smokes of a cigarette enter
and when a desert sips a handful of water

why would my soul ever shake like in an earthquake?

the most precious for me is that vehicle
that ever runs swiftly without obstacle
I want to be a driver
on this journey
from the static autumn
to the spring so dynamic