பெங்குயின்

 

 

That Penguin

No one chased me away here.

There are no tracks there.

No food. No water.

No lover waiting on the hill.

I step away

with full awareness.

Do not drape your imagined burdens over me

and call that relief.

Do not load me with your guilt,

your restlessness,

your hunger to assign meaning—

and then feel lighter.

Keep your interpretations with you.

We lived together.

Now it is time to part.

That is all.

Death and loneliness

are griefs meant for humans.

Not for me.

There is no celebration in birth.

There is no sorrow in death.

While speaking philosophy,

we do not drop bombs.

While speaking business,

we do not butcher lives.

There are no bullets in our feathers.

No deceit or conspiracy in our words.

We do not destroy by first winning trust.

We do not tear green lands apart.

We do not steal white continents.

We live

in our own way.

Go your way, humans.