A Powerful Poem on Prof G N Saibaba

A Powerful Poem on Prof G N Saibaba
Friends, A couple of days ago, Virasam's website carried this powerful poem on G N Saibaba written by Arasavilli Krishna. Please see an English translation:

Where is my friend’s house?
Arasavilli Krishna
I asked
The sprout bursting out of dilapidated walls
I asked
The flowers of grass going to sleep in the courtyard
I looked searchingly into
The awaiting eyes of the just-born calf
Where is my friend’s house?
Strolling on the path
I collected some red flowers in my pocket
I sought
The fingers of my friend
Amidst the chinks in the misty droplets
Falling out of the bars of the window
My friend’s love letter
Remained in my hands
The letter that was addressed to
Birds and pigeons
Sneaked into my books
In the hurry of closing school
Please tell me how to reach my friend’s house
How much I explored
In the poor huts of Amalapuram
In the midst of the stink of dry fish
I wanted to hand over
The love letter in my hands
With utmost tenderness
I waited in the dark at the ruined walls
Like a wounded old dog
To see the wet face of my friend
That looked like foam on the milk
With the sound of closing eyes of fish
I caressed the fallen bricks of my friend’s house
I asked politely
The brown coloured smiling lizard
And the falling pieces of the layers of lime
Please tell me whereabouts of my friend
I asked the tricycle
That carried my friend’s body and dreams
Where is my friend?
I pulled out the love letter from my pocket
And kept it at the entrance
My conversation with the walls was ended
When I moved on my way
A jail bird perched on my arm said:
Your friend is alive
He is greeting people
From the midst of walls built by state
People will remember your friend
In the spaces between specks of food on their plates

Published on Virasam website
http://virasam.org/article.php?page=544
(Translation from Telugu by N Venugopal)