Poem- Blogpost by Dhanu

The rain has not let up
Don't go out yet, sister

Its only a semblance of afternoon.
After it decided to live in
With night, its paramour
This is no longer the afternoon we recognize.

You umbrella alone will be useless, sister.
You will not be able to cover
Your body from the raindrops.

Haven't you heard this sound
The commotion in every home
Of the still incoherent babies.

Don't you go sister
Don't you go sister
Don't you go.

Look sister, every courtyard
Has become
Mangarak Kanbi

Sister, I won't allow you to go
Every road is reverberating
With the deafening utterance of boots.

Hide inside the house, sister
Don't you go at all.

Translated from Manipuri by Robin S. Ngangom