An Incomplete Kiss
written by: Arif Raja
translated by: Kamalakar Kadave
The park bench,
on which
a decade ago
we used to sit,
may have been discoloured
and dilapidated.
Yet,
the half-kiss
you hurriedly planted on my lips,
filled as you were with
anxious disbelief,
is still warm.
Even now,
That bench waits for the moment,
A kiss is able to hoodwink the moral police
and find completion.
Arif Raja is a premier Kannada poet. He was born in Arakera village, located in Raichur district of Karnataka, India on 6th December, 1983. He is working as an assistant professor in an undergraduate college. He has published five collections of poems so far: Saitanana Pravadi (A Prophet of Satan, 2006), Jangama Phakeerana Jolige (The Satchel of a Mendicant Faqir, 2009), and Benkige Todisida Batte (A Raiment for Fire, 2013), Nakshatra Moha (Star Infatuation, 2017), and Ede Halina Pali (The Turn of Breastfeeding, 2022). Arif Raja has been awarded the Da.Ra. Bendre Award-2010, Aralu Award by Karnataka Sahitya Parishath-2010, Yuva Puraskara of Indian Academy of Letters-2012, and the Dinakara Desai Award-2014. In addition, he has also won prizes in several poetry competitions and other book awards. His poems have been translated to English as well as other Indian Languages.The process is on to publish his poems translated to English under the title ‘I am a Public Lavatory.’
Latest posts by Arif Raja (see all)
- An Incomplete Kiss - November 21, 2023
