BASAVARAJU VENKATA APPA RAO (1894-1933)
Were you
lonesome
in your crib
my
dear, dear
If only,
you had called me!
All that the eye saw
was a sheet of water
one gigantic heap
sky-high
in the house of deluge
where
It’s impossible
to find company.
There
in a crib
made of a leaf
were you
lonesome
my
dear, dear
If only
You had called me!
All the worlds
in the womb of time
shapeless
dormant
you
with a smile on
on your face
singing lullabies
to yourself
were you
lonesome
my
dear, dear
If only
you had called me!
-Translated from the
original in Telugu by B. V. L. Narayanarow