Once, I was, with a thin body,
And a sound which roared
Louder than the ocean
Only the banned loud speakers
Are needed as proof
Remember standing on the street,
As a thousand flowering tongue-trees
Remember standing guard in my hometown,
A torch stuck on my chest
Remember asking
How Itteera became Itteera
Today, after translation,
When I look in the mirror,
Word has got swollen,
It lies dormant behind the bars of the specs
Similes have developed a paunch
Metaphors have gone obese
Wonder whether my poems will recognize me
Cannot walk,
Cannot get up ,
Been sitting for such a long time
I wish to devour everything new
But start gagging as soon as I see it
God almighty,
If I miss my exercise,
My 400-page autobiography
Will end in diabetes.
Mar 19, 2014
Mar 19, 2014 at 7:05 AM UTC
Once, I was, with a thin body,
And a sound which roared
Louder than the ocean
Only the banned loud speakers
Are needed as proof
Remember standing on the street,
As a thousand flowering tongue-trees
Remember standing guard in my hometown,
A torch stuck on my chest
Remember asking
How Itteera became Itteera
Today, after translation,
When I look in the mirror,
Word has got swollen,
It lies dormant behind the bars of the specs
Similes have developed a paunch
Metaphors have gone obese
Wonder whether my poems will recognize me
Cannot walk,
Cannot get up ,
Been sitting for such a long time
I wish to devour everything new
But start gagging as soon as I see it
God almighty,
If I miss my exercise,
My 400-page autobiography
Will end in diabetes.
Translation : Anitha Varma
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