In Water is from Kamil's fifth collection of peoms yim myane sokhan 2007 (These My Words). This English translation of the ghazal appeared in a recent international anthology of poems Language for a New Century -- Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond published by W. W. Norton & Company, New York. The collection includes three poets from Kashmir.

In Water
Amin Kamil

You’re fraught with words, better go sit in water;
For they swell with meaning and glow more in water.

Look for the heart in the chest and roast it on embers
Look for the blood in the liver and drink it in water.

Tomorrow Kashmir will stretch in the sun like a desert,
The day after Ladakh and Leh will float in water.

Under the hollow banks frightened waves take refuge;
Lord Jaldev is born with fire in water.

At mid day, even the sun gets soaked in sweat;
At the end, even the moon catches fire in water.

Even in excitement, sometimes, people set towns on fire;
Even for fun, sometimes, people pour poison in water.

The lost cow is looking for the elevensome, would someone tell her?
Five drowned in dry land, six are aflame in water.

The peddler of ghazals, this Kamil, makes fiery calls
But the fatefrost people are coldly sleeping in water.

Translated from the Kashmiri by Muneebur Rahman

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