Translated from the Hindi by Ipshita Sengupta
My shoe is torn here and there;
The ground bites my sole and I stop.
I ask my shoe,
Why don’t you walk further?
It retorts,
I am ready if you are.
Taken aback, I confess—
like you my shoe,
I too am torn
here and there.
Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena (1927–1983) was a Hindi writer, poet, columnist and playwright. He was one of the seven poets who first published in one of the “Tar Saptaks”, which ushered in the ‘Prayogvaad’ (Experimentalism) era, which in time evolved to become the “Nayi Kavita” (New Poetry) movement.
Ipshita Sengupta is an editor and content developer by profession. At heart though, she is an avid reader who adores books. She reviews books and shares her writing on her Instagram blog @thephotodiary.