JOURNEY

Distracted in her sadness, the girl
took her child and boarded a train
meaning to get off
at the station called happiness

The station came, she got off too
but the happiness she desired
had turned for her
into an impenetrable sadness

the sight of which filled her with such agony
that she took her child and boarded a train
to get off at the station called sadness
which was where she had started

TRANSLATED FROM THE HINDI BY RAHUL SONI