An Eternal Why

I know you can never be mine
Still, I wait for you always
Why
Yesterday I was waiting for you
so I will tomorrow
My heart says
Why...

When you pass near me
my feet tumble
When you talk with me
my lips crumble
After talking you go alone
Why...

When you look at me
there is a strange feeling indeed
At night you sleep peacefully
but for my sleep, your dream
is a great need
Why...

When I count the stars at night
and feel your fragrance in the air
each star in the sky
seems to me like your mirror
Why...

No answer. Will it be
An eternal why...

-- By Mukesh Goel

The Chair

The wooden chair on which you sit
comes from illegal logging
Your buttocks can also be burned
like wood in a forest fire

The wooden chair on which you sit
can jerk you up
to the highest position
or hurl you down to a political morass

-- By Ngatini Rasdi

Translated by TIS