Na Teanúis in Kanpur (do Rajendra Singh)

Bean uasal i mBleá Cliath
agus a mála láimhe aici á ransú
le haghaidh bhalsam béil
níl a fhios aici
(conas a bheadh)
conas, cathain, cén áit inar deineadh an mála sin.
Ní fheiceann na súile donna malla sin –
súile na bó nach mór – guairneán an tsalachair
á fholmhú féin gach lá san abhainn.
Súimín á bhaint aici as an latte, cá bhfios di siúd
leibhéil  an chróimiam atá sa mhún
nó conas luathchomharthaí ailse sróine a léamh?

Bean uasal i mBleá Cliath
ag blaisínteacht ar an latte
téann ar a cromada is cacann sa Ghainséis.

The Tanneries of Kanpur

(for Rajendra Singh)

A lady in Dublin
rummaging in her bag
for lip balm.
She does not know
(how could she know?)
how, when and where her bag was made.
Her brown, liquid – almost bovine – eyes
do not see the swirl of filth
as it empties itself daily into the river.
Sipping her latte, how can she detect
levels of chromium in urine
or diagnose early stages of nasal cancer?

A lady in Dublin
sipping her latte
crouches and shits in the Ganges.