Poem
Amarjit Chandan
LASAN GARLIC
In a distant countryWhen you come across a compatriot
You’re thrilled to the bones
Your eyes and your hands reach out to him
And a chain of words is formed
I came on it once, the Punjabi word lasan
written up on a huge billboard
For women farm workers
In a far-flung corner of California
And I felt
My language had welcomed me
Shaken my hands
Embraced me
Wished me good luck
For a moment the taste of the word
Lasan was like
A sugar lump on my tongue
Only words die
As a fish dies out of water
They lose their meanings
And gather new ones
Here the word lasan means—
Fifteen dollars a day
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
A crane left behind in anguish
Gold ornaments
dresses and rings
The deep troubled waters of greed and indulgence
And very few fish escape the net
© Translation: 2005, Amarjit Chandan with Ajmer Rode and John Welch
From: Being Here
Publisher: The Many Press, London, 2005
From: Being Here
Publisher: The Many Press, London, 2005
LASAN GARLIC
© 1995, Amarjit Chandan
From: Jarhan
Publisher: Aesthetic Publications, Ludhiana
From: Jarhan
Publisher: Aesthetic Publications, Ludhiana
Poems
Poems of Amarjit Chandan
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LASAN GARLIC
In a distant countryWhen you come across a compatriot
You’re thrilled to the bones
Your eyes and your hands reach out to him
And a chain of words is formed
I came on it once, the Punjabi word lasan
written up on a huge billboard
For women farm workers
In a far-flung corner of California
And I felt
My language had welcomed me
Shaken my hands
Embraced me
Wished me good luck
For a moment the taste of the word
Lasan was like
A sugar lump on my tongue
Only words die
As a fish dies out of water
They lose their meanings
And gather new ones
Here the word lasan means—
Fifteen dollars a day
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
A crane left behind in anguish
Gold ornaments
dresses and rings
The deep troubled waters of greed and indulgence
And very few fish escape the net
© 2005, Amarjit Chandan with Ajmer Rode and John Welch
From: Being Here
Publisher: 2005, The Many Press, London
From: Being Here
Publisher: 2005, The Many Press, London
LASAN GARLIC
In a distant countryWhen you come across a compatriot
You’re thrilled to the bones
Your eyes and your hands reach out to him
And a chain of words is formed
I came on it once, the Punjabi word lasan
written up on a huge billboard
For women farm workers
In a far-flung corner of California
And I felt
My language had welcomed me
Shaken my hands
Embraced me
Wished me good luck
For a moment the taste of the word
Lasan was like
A sugar lump on my tongue
Only words die
As a fish dies out of water
They lose their meanings
And gather new ones
Here the word lasan means—
Fifteen dollars a day
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
Bricks of the house
Ticks of the clock
A crane left behind in anguish
Gold ornaments
dresses and rings
The deep troubled waters of greed and indulgence
And very few fish escape the net
© 2005, Amarjit Chandan with Ajmer Rode and John Welch
From: Being Here
Publisher: 2005, The Many Press, London
From: Being Here
Publisher: 2005, The Many Press, London
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