Manohar Shetty
Tá na hanamacha bogtha ar aghaidh,
Na colainneacha fós mar chuid
Den talamh. Raghaidh an ghrian síos
Uair nó dhó
Sula bhfeofaidh an rós is an lile.
Labhraíonn na leaca uaighe nite
Os cionn an tráchta ar an mbóthar
Monabhar faon i gcuimhne
Ar shaol a caitheadh go hiomlán
Nó a raibh deireadh obann brónach leis.
Tríd an bhféar méith
Scinceanna sa tóir ar fhéileacáin.
Préachán ag feitheamh sna sciatháin.
Ólann beach
As béal roiseoige.
Fiolar aonair ag trasnú na spéire
Deirtear i gcogar
Gur féinics é.
All Soul’s Day, St Inez Cemetery
Manohar Shetty
The souls have moved on,
The bodies still part
Of the ground. The roses
And lilies will fade in
Two sunsets or three.
Over the passing traffic
The washed gravestones
Speak through dimly
In memory of lives spent
Fully or ended sadly, swiftly.
Through the lush grass skinks
Hunt down butterflies.
A crow waits in the wings.
A bee drinks from
The mouth of a hibiscus.
A lone eagle crossing
The skies is whispered
To be a phoenix.