That’s it! Nothing remains in the end!
Even that ethereal flower of youth
That morphed the captivating carnal expanse
Into an exuberant intoxicating music
Shall have to bite dust
With its hairline fracture on the bone.

The libertine must pack up and depart dejected
Leaving behind the ruins of body- temple
Abhorring the cold flaccid breasts
And the dead loathsome mocking memories

It’s inviolable
For the red-tailed wicky-bird feeding on oil
In the dead of night
To rise up suddenly into flames
And pass into nothingness.

That’s all!
Nothing remains in the end!
Every morning is a teasing promise.
Every morning is a new seven-knot cessation.
Won’t anything remain?
Not exactly.
In the end,
[...]]]> Nothing remains in the end!
Even the dreadful snake… that herald of death
Dissolves like a scrawl on water.
Some wild plant peeps out with passion
Breaking through the grave
Sapping the essence of the bod
Only to wither away soon.
Some small dirty cranial bone remains
Wallowing in sun and dust…
Rejected even by a hungry fox.

That’s it! Nothing remains in the end!
Even that ethereal flower of youth
That morphed the captivating carnal expanse
Into an exuberant intoxicating music
Shall have to bite dust
With its hairline fracture on the bone.

The libertine must pack up and depart dejected
Leaving behind the ruins of body- temple
Abhorring the cold flaccid breasts
And the dead loathsome mocking memories

It’s inviolable
For the red-tailed wicky-bird feeding on oil
In the dead of night
To rise up suddenly into flames
And pass into nothingness.

That’s all!
Nothing remains in the end!
Every morning is a teasing promise.
Every morning is a new seven-knot cessation.
Won’t anything remain?
Not exactly.
In the end,
At different times, and in different forms
We remain
In the cycle of birth and death.
We stand … nodding our heads
At the wonders of the Nature
Somewhere amidst flowers of grass
Or in the hollows of hills.
Or walking hurriedly in an ant line
We express our bewilderment
At the heinous acts of humankind.

We remain
In the end…
Eternally.

Original: Vazir Rehman (Telugu)
Translation: Nauduri Murthy