I am Teaching My Children a Song of Revolution

 

These poems were written in the years 1993 -1994 in Hindi. I am translating them into English for readers worldwide.

 

 

 

I am teaching my children

A song of magical modulation

Which will intensify with each passing day

Into a raging fire of revolution!

 

Those grass sticks on the riverside sand

Waver right and left, north and south

Crows on the blooming Maria* trees

Caw endlessly, ooze saliva on mouth!

 

If you can declare a dog lunatic

You can kill it without guilt

But who on earth is pure and sinless?

Every man is of flesh and bone built!

 

I’m filling a spark in every word

Even if I die before I am young

The song must remain alive

I have given my poetry a tongue!

 

I am transfusing in it the life of my blood

I am filling it with violent vibration

Though they were born serene and tender

I am teaching my children a song of revolution!

 

Maria flowers bloom in May. In local dialect they are called “bandarlauri”(monkey stick, because of their sticklike seed pods). I have christened them Maria flowers because they bloom in May, the month dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus.

 

Xavier Bage

Mon, 23 August 1993, 9:30 PM