A Kannada Poem by Prathibha Nandakumar

A strange thing happened this morning,
The mirror stared at me,
Telling me to go and pack everything.
Ignoring it I went to the kitchen
Where on the gas-stove oil was boiling,
A mouse trap and roach killer
Were there among other things.
Look, learn from Hoshiang they retorted.
But that’s all I do, nothing new
Nothing else is there that makes sense.
So scolding them back I finished
All the work I had to do.
Coming out it so happened
I knocked down the mirror.
It shattered.
I could not see my face.

~Prathibha Nandakumar
(Literal translation by Geeta Jayaram)

Final free verse version by myself.