gulab khandelwal selected poems

ONLY I WILL NOT BE HERE

The sky will always remain suspended like this,
And the ever-changing earth will always
Be revolving as now;

The boundless water of the ocean
Stretching its myriad arms
Will always roll towards the shore.
Only I will not be here.

With the advent of spring,
The fields will be painted with flowers
And the whole atmosphere will be full of fragrance,
The newly-wed wives will anxiously be waiting for
Their husbands,
Every thing will be exactly like previous years,
Only I will not be here.

The rain-laden clouds, mounting on the steed of air,
Will surround the sun as today.
The yearning travellers, away from their loved ones,
Will turn their faces homewards
Seeing the torrential rains.
The rivers will be foaming in this very way,
The green banks will be falling in the waters as usual.
Only I will not be here.

I want to bathe in these milky mornings,
I long to lie down in the arms of these dark nights,
I want to clasp this blue sky in my embrace,

Ah, these will be like this tomorrow also.
Only I will not be here.
O Mother Earth ! somewhere
In your unknown fields,
The dust of my body must lie.
My going from here does not mean
That I will not exist anywhere else,
That I may not flash with the lightnings in the sky,
That I shall not roll with the waves in the ocean.
Every thing mine will remain.
Only I will not be here.