WOMAN

She, the river,

Said to him, the sea:     

            All my life

I’ve been dissolving myself

and flowing towards you

for your sake

in the end it was I

who turned into the sea

a woman’s gift

is always like the sky

            but you went on

            worshipping yourself

            you never thought

            of becoming a river

            and merging

            with me.

(Written by Hiran Bansode, Translated from Marathi into English

by Vinay Dharwadker, Indian Love Poems, Edited by

Meena Alexander, Everyman’s Library, 2005, Page: 138).