The Night Is A Beggar Maid Poem by Ravikumar C.P.

Hindi Poem by Gulzar
English Translation by C.P. Ravikumar

The night is a beggar maid,
The moon a shining collection plate
In her hands, shaking and cold.
Hear her lonely footsteps -
Alone she arrives
And departs alone, the poor soul

A million stars shine:
Pearls embroidered
in her dark shawl.
Yet she comes begging
When she seems to have it all

She seems like a yogin
Neither asleep nor awake
Roaming in the lonely streets
Her heart nurses an ache

Such a destitute woman!
See if there something
We can give away -
A little morning, perhaps,
Who refuses to sleep
And is still in a mood to play?