Mother's Photograph | Sushma Ranahama

-Sushma Ranahama

Trans. Hem Bishwakarma

An antique photograph

Faded innocent smile though        

Or, tender youth my mother wore

I keep it safe!

 

She might have had a print

The photograph—

Shot in an eminent pose

Almost a couple of decades back

 

My mother, cosmetics illiterate,

Her youth might have won

The heart of a porter,

The merry youths—

Relishing the falls at hills

The bumblebees humming around flowers

Up at the ridges and down the lowlands

Reclining wayfarers at Chautari[1]

Rest-stations at mountain-pass

 

Though had her eyes stuck on young Soltee[2]s

When chorusing with Sakela[3],

Swapping the Sili[4]

Won she, the heart of Aapa, the father

Then with love

I was wombed!

 

Nurtured on her lap,

I seek happiness across the seas

She still keeps her patience unbroken

Along the wrinkle lines

The hug spreads hiding wishes in

Waits to cuddle with the hearts at a distance

 

An antique photograph of mother

Faded innocent smile though        

Or, a tender youth she wore

I keep safe!

Yet,

The photograph utterly mirrors me!        

•••

[1] A resting place under poplar and banyan tree

[2] Relation addressed by a woman to a brother's or sister's brother-in-law

[3] A cultural dance performed by the Rai community in Nepal

[4] Change in movements in Sakela dance