This Translation Tuesday, we feature the poetic reflections of Sakthi Jothi, translated from the Tamil by Thila Varghese. With painterly verse, Sakthi Jothi extracts a perfect image from the intensities of an “undissolved dream.” Feelings are captured in the lines, and colour and tools are sought to map their depths—but success may come at a price.
The Painting of a Dream
I am drawing
an image of me
that remains embedded
in an undissolved dream of mine.
I tried to put together a figure
by extending the lines in the summer
and contracting them in the winter,
stretching the lines farther
and erasing some of them as unwanted.
I painted it with colours
specific to each season.
It was only
during the times
passed in searching
for brushes and colours
to paint with precision
all the details,
such as the loneliness
that is undissolved by anything at all,
the love
that remains inexhaustible
even after given away fully,
the bitterness
that cannot be swallowed and digested,
and the guileless laughter
that blooms
without searching for a reason,
it dawned on me that
when the painting
is completed
exactly the way I want it,
I would have forgotten
what it is like to dream.
Translated from the Tamil by Thila Varghese.
Sakthi Jothi, a social worker by occupation, is the author of eleven books of poetry and two collections of essays, and a recipient of numerous awards. She is the founder of Sri Sakthi Social, Economic and Educational Welfare Trust that focuses on empowering rural women through sustainable socio-economic development and educational programmes. Sakthi Jothi previously served as a member of the Indo-China Goodwill Team to promote social welfare through bilateral initiatives.
Thila Varghese lives in Canada, where she works part-time during the academic year as a Senior Writing Advisor at Western University. Her translations of Tamil literary works have been published in World Literature Today, Modern Poetry in Translation, Asymptote, Indian Literature, Metamorphoses, National Translation Month, and Columbia Journal.
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