Here is a poem from Kannada. S. Manjunath is one of the major voices in contemporary Kannada poetry. His poems are rich in their micro details and careful construction. I have translated here one of his poems that I like. It is an old one though.
Thing Hymn
(S. Manjunath: vastu stuti)
Salutes to things
May they not make our hearts logwood
Bestowing on us dumb curses, inertia, idiotic sleep.
Salutes to heaps of glittering coins
May they not mock us, entice us;
Vanishing from our pockets
May they not waste the meaning of compassion.
Salutes to prostitutes
Their starved eyes, mad derisive eyes
May they not assault poor us;
May they with mercy send us
Onto faintly fragrant road of love.
Many salutes to god and devil,
Who is what who knows
May he be safe who claims he knows
May no one make us slaves
May we not be
Death’s morsels even as we live.
