THE KEROSENE BOY

A cycle of four poems-On Choti & Bari Diwali 2009, A third humble gift to Motihari, India

By Anant Kumar
tr. from the German by
Prof. Dr. Marilya Veteto Reese, North Arizona University, Flagstaff-AZ, USA


1. The Birth

While it rained
in Mango village
someone
tore through his mother’s womb

her husband ran
yes ran in thunder and lightning

for the doctors of Motihari sat
behind closed doors

Indra let it pour today:
some whored
some caressed

we lay in puddles
screaming
powerless

the village women massaged
cold hands, rigid feet

while Shiva opend the eyes
yes opened by Shiva
the woman was revived


2. Girlboy

In school
I am teased
Because I am a girlboy.

Mama, she was saddened
A bit--
When she saw the little man.
She’d hoped for a girl.

Bapu was glad
Not of my little man
But because he had-
Both, me and my Amma.

So I am:
Just mama’s child.
Girl and boy.


3. Big and Little

Three of us
quite small
quite little


Motihari grows apace
shops and stores
many children


At the big depot
where we live is
the diesel engines bring
the trains there
from big cities
from Bombay from Delhi

Motiharis misery
in German snapshots
snakes
that frighten me
Japanese do films.

4. The Kerosene Boy

Daytimes
my Daddy
carries mail
while I’m sitting
here in school

Evenings
shopkeeper
he
and his salesman
I

sells fresh produce
Mama
and kerosene
I
at the biggest circle
where lovely women up on
giant billboards

when nighttimes
the lamps flicker
and it is fragrant
children work at
lessons for school

Quite good
That’s me in maths
Especially
fond of English.
Sudhir Kumar is my name
I am
9
............................................
ABOUT ANANT KUMAR:

Anant Kumar, a writer in the German language, was born in Bihar. His birth place is Katihar where his father Prof. Major R. Prasad served the Indian Army. He did his schooling at Zila School Motihari and his father taught Psychology at M. S. College Motihari.

He learnt German as a Foreign Language in New Delhi, before he came to Germany. Between 1992 and 1999, he studied German Literature and Linguistics. He wrote his Masters Thesis on the epic MANAS of Alfred Doeblin at the University of Kassel, Germany. Besides regular contributions to literary magazines and periodicals, he is the author of twelve books of poetry and prose in German. He has received several awards in contemporary German literature and is a member of German Writers Association. www.anant-kumar.de

This English translation is done by Prof. Dr. Marilya Veteto Reese (North Arizona University, Flagstaff-AZ, USA). http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/mvc/html/cv.html