An Eternal Traveller | CN Gautam

 -CN Gautam

Trans. Hem Bishwakarma

As you transform into ashes

As you are washed away

From the funeral pyre

Go, just adjacent to the river

Go, undeviatingly

With the wall of relations

The cascade of tears

Go, along the path you have to 

Meet, when you reach

At the resting place

Go, with the caress of your mother

With the broad chest of your father

With the burbling of the stream

With the prayer of God

Go, removing

The stones and the obstacles along the way

Go, being an eternal traveller

Sprinkling the holy water

The incense, the lamps, the flowers

Sandalwood paste and Akshata

Go, and mingle with the Holy Ocean

And, rest as a cloud in the holy sky!

Poet Gautam is a poet, lyricist and professional teacher. He has long served as a radio programmer and producer. He has a few songs recorded and many poems and articles published in local newspapers and online portals to his credit.