Dumbarton Bridge
English Translation: Madhuri Palaji
Telugu Original : Dr K.Geeta
There –
Sky bends back and touches the feet with its head
From a distance, it looks like an eagle bowed with its wings widespread
As long as we travel on the bridge
It looks
Like water and soil are battling
Like Godavari bridge in disguise is shivering
Glittering water on both the sides
Distantly, bridges helping on either sides
Like cranes falling into the Godavari islands
Seagulls, like toy planes floating
Everywhere
Water taking over –
Dumbarton Bridge like the head ornament of peninsula
Sailing boats around, palm trunks are nowhere to see
You can’t find steamers filled with people and kids swimming in search of coins
Everywhere
Water taking over
Glittering waves of water –
One and half minute of crossing the bridge
My heart disappears from the car window and somersaults in the air
I felt like banishing the vehicles and lie on my back
Looking at the sky
Like Papikondalu came forward
Fremont hills stand facing the water after getting down the bridge
Water on both sides gush in competition
Like they might swallow the road
Water and land with winning spirit
Keep fighting
In the fast car race,
The heart loses and remains behind
Everytime I cross the bridge
The feeling of failing to cross the bridge continues to hang on to it!
*****
Madhuri Palaji is a writer and book reviewer from India. Her book “Poems of The Clipped Nightingale” is available on Kindle. She writes book reviews for various publishing houses like Penguin Random House, Meerkat Press, Hot Tree Publishings, Bethany Publishers, etc. She is one of the top 50 book reviewers in India. Her reviews are available at http://www.theclippednightingale.com/