I possess no guns,
nor cannons;
Neither bombs nor Tanks.
All I have are mere words.
They are not mine
They belong to my soil.
They are the words of my people.
Those valourous troops
wandering vigilantly with guns
going around in tankers…
Oh, why do they fear my poems?
Enquiring in the neighbourhood,
in the dwellings facing mine,
counting my footprints in the street
calling from unknown numbers
and disconnecting without response _
Making the dogs howl in the well of night
Riding in the bikes menacingly during noontime
Searching for my books and probing them
All these would unsettle me – so thought the valourous troop.
Oh, you would always be afraid of my words
that break your guns_
that smash your explosives _
that bombard your tankers _
that destroy your camps _
We fight for our Mother Land
You wage war for stealing our land
Therefore, you would always be afraid
of my poems;
ofour people;
of our land.
Theepachelvan
Translation by Latha Ramakirishnan
Publish : Globaltamilnews (http://bit.ly/2aiyr3J)
