We left it to forget it.
Couldn’t fathom then
How frequently
We would have to visit.

You must understand this much
It is no matter
What we left in there
Or when we did it.
We will never spill it.

We will carry the burden
To our graves.
But this much needs to be said
If we are to sleep,
We left it there.

Because now you know
Oh, you know.

…

Nimish K Sharma writes in Urdu, Hindi, and English. He teaches at the University of Delhi and some of his work has been published in hākārā, Urdu Studies, Shorted, and Mash India. Some of his translations from Hindi are forthcoming in Perennial: The Red River Book of 21st Century Hindi Poetry.