"malayalam" poems
To speak all these languages:
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo,
Chhattisgarhi, Dogri , Garo -
Oh, to be able to tongue, "Love"
in Gajarati, Hini, Kannada, Kashmiri,
Khasi, Kokborok, Konkani -
Or lip, "Desire" in
Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nepali -
Or whisper, "Good night, Dear"
in Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit,
Santali, Sindhi, Telugu, Tamil, or Urdu.
Jan 17, 2011
Jan 17, 2011 at 10:49 PM UTC
Yesterday
Was in the ecstasy
Of realizing that
We were
Those two
On earth
Who liked bitter gourd curry
Cooked with coconut milk ….
Remember?
Think it was
In the sixth life.
We were
Two nascent bitter guards
On the pandal
Spread in the northern corner
Of the farmland
Belonging to a grandmother
In a village in Mississippi
Who used to attend to the orchards
Sitting in a wheelchair.
We had
Watched earth
And peeked
At the sky
Hanging from the same stalk
The scar left
From your tight clasp on my thigh
Scared
After spotting a double tailed pest
Is still there.
The pleasure of that pain
Makes me tearful now.
I am like the faces
In the house of deceased
Sobbing
At times
Bursting into tears
The next moment
Holding back
After a while.
Sometimes
I am all the faces
In the house of the dead
Tears have
Nothing to do with them.
Sometimes
The wedding house
Will laugh and laugh
Till its cheeks hurt.
Just like you.
My dear bitter guard,
When will we
Go back to that
Pandal in Mississippi
Where we had pulsated
From a single stalk?
Aren’t we the ones
To offer obsequies
To that grandmother
Who looked after us
With pots
Of wholehearted love?
Translator - Shyma P
Shyma P : Works in Payyanur College, Payyanur. Translator and film critic. Has translated poems and articles in Malayalam Literary Survey, The Oxford India Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Literature, online magazines like Gulmohar, Readleaf Poetry as well as scripts and subtitles for short films.
Dec 15, 2015
Dec 15, 2015 at 8:43 PM UTC
Stars like blood-drops from a wing that couldn't move And like a feel of mercy in the abyss of the sea in rain Stars filled in the night covered with the curtain of shadows Like an ecstasy that is fading afar And like synonyms of life that become voiceless Like the west wind that
is going long and long ways And like spring-dreams seen in different times Like an attractive and indescribable smile And like sweet elixir of a beautiful song There I hear only a heart- beat of the cosmic time The rider has been tired of seeing an unseen destiny My heart is burning though a nest it is Will you give a shed of tears ever for me (originally written in MALAYALAM language,INDIA,kerala. translated into ENGLISH by the poet Girish Puliyoor. written in 2006)
Oct 23, 2013
Oct 23, 2013 at 11:36 PM UTC
Since I have no other way
And am in utmost need,
Painter girl,
I filch one of the eight lambs
You have made plump with
Green jackfruit leaves and
Thin gruel with paddy bran.
I will take it to the goat market
And sell it in a jiffy.
I assure you
I will not sell it
To any butcher-
The lamb you made chubby
With sweet sweet words
And much much petting
And nice lilting croons,
Mixing and mixing
Greens with browns.
Don’t be sad, painter girl.
I hear you come running
Searching for your lamb and
Cry out “O my dearest one
Who went grazing in the green fields,”
As the sun in your canvas
Sets in the sea and
The saffron blends with the dusk.
And, see your tears mingle
With the black that you wanted
To adorn the brow of
The naughtiest of them.
Painter girl,
It’s all because I have no other go
And it’s of utmost need.
I could have broken into the
Two-storeyedhouse you sketched
And stolen the ornaments in
Secret lockers that even
You are unaware of.
Or, I could have
Palmed the golden girdle
Of the beautiful ***** princess
Whose portrait you made,
The one with a nose stud.
Or, drugged her with my kisses
And plundered the harem.
Or else, I could have
Entered the snake shrine
Guarded by the dark serpents
That you often drew
And fled the country with
The precious jewel.
Or, I could have shot down
The birds that you drew
And sold them grilled.
I could have axed down the
Mahagony trees you nurtured
And sold them as timber.
I could have blinded your Kanhaiah
And made him a beggar
To become rich from the alms he earned.
I could have enslavened his Gopis
And handed them over
To the red light streets.
Painter girl,
It’s not for anything of this sort.
I take just one of your eight lambs.
Sell it for a good price
And fulfill my need.
Now, perchance,
If a new tenant comes to rent
My brain where nothing resides
And if they pay me a fat advance,
Painter girl,
Surely will I buy back your lamb.
And tether it in your painting.
Don’t you dare say then
Don’t you say then
That you have forgotten it.
Don’t you say then
You have exhausted your stock of
Green jackfruit leaves.
(Trans from Malayalam by Ra Sh)
Nov 3, 2013
Nov 3, 2013 at 10:04 AM UTC
Oh, the great tree that sprouting the whole universe, I am just asking now for a little bit of shadow Many might have come meanwhile to friends with you And they might have supported you to give more power Besides they might have sung many songs in the rhythm of heartbeat And all the dusks have wept a lot No doubt they would have desired to see the garden of memories And all their deeds given inexplicable joy .BUT I saw the earthen monuments on all my ways and I thrilled in the floute- music of my life Moreover I saw the jasmine groves in the island of sorrows And my burning self have seen the depths of red-sea. EVENTHOUGH, may I sit and may think in this chilling canopy of ETERNAL LOVE.(originally written in MALAYALAM,kerala ,India.in 2008)
Oct 20, 2013
Oct 20, 2013 at 11:37 PM UTC
I swallowed her and now
She lives inside me or I live
Through her, we are alive.
I’m her friend, her teenage
And fantasies, a sixty year old-
Hair and books she ever read
Long distance phone calls
And delight matched our
Love for Sujata, Mr And Mrs Iyer
And I sat on her couch on my
Despised vacations sketching
Letters to Milena, Quabbani
And we spoke of her brothers,
Generations and cafes I went.
I’m Delhi, Bangalore and
Endless conversations-
She never met and she’s my
Lost Malayalam, postcards and
A world so familiar, a childhood.
Hold your breath and relax
I’m going to stay and listen
Till you are out of stories and
I repeat, remind and you smile.
I’ll get you melodies and 60s
Harold Robbins and Nutan,
Your weirdness and aloofness.
You don’t grow old with me
I’ll live, I promise as your fonts
Visit places you walked and
Write to you all, deep- blue
Letters, deep- blue-letters.
You are my first high-heels
Strawberry fields and music system
I’ll recite you a love story
Picture him as our classic heroes
And giggle as girls sixteen and
Seventeen. You swallowed me
And I live through you, we’re alive.
Oct 15, 2015
Oct 15, 2015 at 12:25 PM UTC
A frizzy blue black shadow, there you hold,
curtaining off the door to the pleasure garden,
in my frenzied day dreams, it seems like everglades
where your chiseled alabaster legs smugly join in.
It would take many shapes in my hazy dreams
when my ***** imagination, for you is in an overdrive,
at times it's a soft winged butterfly flitting around your *****
intermittently sitting on your thighs, inching slowly upwards,
how it takes my breath away! in each of it's tickling move.
Excited I ogle, and just then it assumes the look of a face,
with such inviting succulent lips, I fully lose my patience
at first the kiss is soft, a fervency takes over,then, I slip in to a trance
erotically charged and ecstatic, I hear you moan,when I explode!
കാമ നിഴല്നാടകം
------------------------------------
കുനുകുനെ കരിനീലയാമൊരു
നിഴല് അവിടെ നിനക്കുണ്ട്
സുഖകവാടത്തിനു മൂടുപടമൊന്നിട്ടപോലെ
എന് ഭ്രമ ഭരിതമാം പകല്സ്വപ്നങ്ങളി
ലതു നീര് നിലമായിമാറുന്നു.
നിന് വെണ്ണക്കല് കടഞ്ഞ
കാലുകള് ചേരുന്നൊരിടം.
എന് ഭാവന യുടെ കാമ സ്വപ്നങ്ങള്
നിന്നെത്തേടിപ്പായവേ
എന് അവ്യക്തസ്വപ്നങ്ങളില്
അതു, രൂപാന്തരങ്ങള്തേടുന്നു.
ചിലനേരംനിന്അരക്കെട്ട്ചുറ്റി
യൊരുചിത്രശലഭംപറക്കുന്നു
ഇടയിടയില് നിന് തുട പറ്റിയിരുന്നു
മേലോട്ട്മെല്ലെനീങ്ങുന്നു.
അത് മെല്ലെ ഇക്കിളിയിട്ട്മേല്പ്പോട്ടു
നീങ്ങാന് തുടങ്ങവേ
എന് ശ്വാസം നിന്നുപോവുന്നു!
ഉന്മാദിയായിഞാനവിടെ നോക്കുന്നു,
അവിടെയൊരുമുഖമല്ലേകാണ്മൂ
മദ ഭരിതമാ ചുണ്ടുകള് കാണുമ്പൊള്
ഞാന് എന്നെത്തന്നെ മറന്നു
മൃദു ചുംബനം, ലഹരി പകരുന്ന മുത്തം
പിന്നെ,എല്ലാം മറന്നമയക്കം!
രതിലഹരിയില് നിന് വിതുമ്പല് കേള്ക്കെ
ഞാനുമൊരുകാമ വിസ്ഫോടനമറിയുന്നു
(In Malayalam Translation)
Feb 10, 2016
Feb 10, 2016 at 6:20 AM UTC
"You're ******* your life away Bobby," screamed Auntie Abhaya in her native tongue. Malayalam has many nuances and maybe a better translation is, "lightning currents from your privates and blast River Ganga, streaming your soul away." Dravidian poetics go as such and Auntie Abhaya seemed to have quite dramatic flare. In any case, cousin Bobby was once again, drunk. Auntie Ay, as we lovingly referred to her, in her fearless way, was having nothing of it. Worse yet, seems Bobby had funded his ****** with rupees stolen from Auntie Chhaya's purse. A storm of tears she was, in the corner of the humble hut they all resided in, in Kerala.
Kerala's backwaters wash in from the Arabian Sea. Tropical delicacies abound; markets filled with fish, pineapple and coconut groves, and an array of spice that keep the main agricultural commerce of India most enticing to the rest of the world. Yet, life earnings are hard and for some hard habits easy to pick up. This was truest in Bobby's case, though he did try and try to make his family proud.
As I was only a guest in this loving but burdened home, and recognizing a family crisis at hand, I and my traveling partner put forth finances lost to ensure our safe return to Mumbai north in Maharashtra and not embarrass our host family any longer. Though we had touched a Garden of Eden, the lesson of banishment was still at hand.
Apr 14, 2016
Apr 14, 2016 at 9:13 AM UTC
*
Dear Vasundhara,
My earth is my own
Salt, Sweat and Sweet !
And She is my only
true and real love..
I should whisper
something more
About her:
Open your ears sharp and steady
Life has made us both for each other.
I don’t want you to go away,
Dear Vasundhara ,
my only love.
There is no one else for me.
If you were to go,
you would leave me
now for ever and ever
as worthless as falling leaves.
as fruitless as melting snows.
Dear Vasundhara,
May I ask you something?
And please do not reject.
I could give you so much love.
If only you will accept me
Take my hand, be my own life
Dear Vasundhara,
Before the Lord,
I will swear
To give you all what
I can offer from my life.
For ever Lovingly,
Yours……
WILLIAMSJI MAVELI
[email protected]
www.williamsji.com
_______________________________________________*_______________________________________
**
NOTE TO READERS:
In my own mother-tongue (Malayalam, Regional language of Kerala in India)
the word “Vasunthara” means " The Earth"
to which I am in love with.....
**
_______________________________________________________________________________________
..
Feb 24, 2013
Feb 24, 2013 at 1:50 AM UTC
White lotus, never let you forget this
you, I, or any other does not exist
outside the fiction cosmos weaves;
all of us add color to it each minute.
പ്രപഞ്ചം ഒരുകൽപ്പിതകഥ
വെണ് താമരേ, ഇത് സ്വയം
മറക്കാനനുവദിക്കായ്ക!
നീയും ഞാനുമെന്നല്ല, എല്ലാമെല്ലാം
പ്രപഞ്ചം നെയ്തെടുക്കും
കഥയല്ലാതെ മറ്റൊന്നല്ല!
അനു മാത്രം ആ കഥയ്ക്ക്
നിറം ചേർപ്പവരാണ് നാം !
(Translated to Malayalam)
Mar 6, 2015
Mar 6, 2015 at 10:01 PM UTC
The Blue of which night where did you burn and for whom? The thick of which black did you live in and dissolve? The midnight of a reed-pipe where its song exhausted? You were a dream,really a forlon,lone cloud The very nostalgic moon-light that sought my soul and my self // The land of flowers had wept along and so did my birds and also my words The songs of my green paddy-leaves where the noon-sun melted Expected your coming after the hot-days The presence so much needed for so long! // A visit shaking the bamboo- field with leaf-long hands fluttering,you smiled With your eyes of a black serpent A fragrance you did drip a in my nerves Hearing a crackling moor-hen afar! Whose tear-drops are there for my thirst? // A wind is coming on so friendly my girl Where have you gone,leaving me as one lost Like a stork in the water-way I have been waiting here for you The knife-tongue of a rigorous plough Cut through sweetly my youth so hard May my spirit for ever be the spirit of my black and deep earth Wont you be here to reap what you sowed? We must ever be here and for ever!! (translated from MALAYALAM language ,INDIA, by the poet (girish puliyoor) himself. the original tittle is OTTAKKINAVU.)
Oct 23, 2013
Oct 23, 2013 at 1:34 PM UTC
It's a perfect day
Yeah it's made just to play an acoustic
But the first one
With roots with the frame of a huge stick
And it's just for
You it's ingrained oh with the name of The One and straight from
An unpolished and untamed platonic love so here it comes
A song prior to the Vinaccian fame because baby I'm
A pharmaceutical part-time musical carpenter of the heart and the
The first verse in reverse comes words we've never heard
Like a message from the best and it's a version for the birds
Where infancy's re-lived
To speak of infantry's a kid
And the reviver speaks Malayalam-sans and baby then he says
"It's the way I am and it's my way man"
Maybe you hear it
Girl I humor and I do it when I want you
Maybe incoherent
But I'm fluent in the music to taunt you
To be your pioneer
Oh it's like fuses to my ears 'cause
I'm deaf with nothing left
But yeah the music you can hear and
I lose it when I'm with you my dear so
Maybe you hear it
I humor and I do it when I want you
Baby incoherent
'Cause I'm fluent in your music to flaunt you
Oh you hear it
Girl I humor and I do it when I want you
So incoherent
But I'm fluent in the music to taunt you
May 12, 2014
May 12, 2014 at 8:41 PM UTC
Can't wait any more,
darling,reach out,
just touch my lips
with your index finger,
red hot with desire.
I am ready to melt
as convergence of
lust, passion and love
happens in that order.
വയ്യിനി കാക്കാന്
തെല്ലും വയ്യിനി കാക്കാന് പ്രിയേ,
ആസക്തിയാല് രക്തവര്ണമാര്ന്നോരാ
തുടുവിരൽത്തുമ്പാൽ ചുണ്ടിൽ
മൃദുവായ് തൊടുകെന്നെ നീ.
രതിതൃഷ്ണയും ആസക്തിയും
പ്രേമതാപവും മേല്മേല്,
തിരമാലകൾപോലെ വന്നെൻ
ഉള്ളത്തെകലക്കവേ,
ആര്ദ്രനായ്, രാഗോന്മാദാൽ
നിന്നിലലിയാൻ കൊതിപ്പൂ ഞാന്!
(Malayalam Translation)
Nov 12, 2015
Nov 12, 2015 at 11:32 AM UTC
those words rolled
out of my tongue,
become all yours.
***
മൂന്നു സുവർണ മൊഴികളാൽ ബന്ധിതർ നമ്മൾ (10 വാക്കുകൾ )
എൻ നാവിൽ നിന്നാ -
മൊഴികൾ പൊഴികയായ്,
അവയെല്ലാമിനി നിനക്കുള്ളതായ്.
(Translated in to Malayalam)
***
மூன்று பொன் வார்த்தைகளால் முடிந்திடப்பட்டோம் (10 வார்த்தைகள்)
என் நாக்கிலிருந்து
அந்த வார்த்தைகள் பொழிந்தன,
அவையாவும் உன்னுடையதாயின.
(Translated in to Tamil)
Jan 4, 2015
Jan 4, 2015 at 4:32 AM UTC
Telling you "I'm fine, mom."
is always easier in English.
Jul 13, 2014
Jul 13, 2014 at 12:04 PM UTC
When my soul thirsts for subtle beauty,
a treasured 'poem of plenty' I drink in solitude,
quintessence of all, to my palate, it tastes;
ineffable majesty of the cosmos in my cup!
സൌന്ദര്യപാനം, ആത്മദാഹശമനം
ഉദാത്ത സൌന്ദര്യാനുഭൂതി
കൊതിച്ചെന്മനം ദാഹിക്കവേ,
ഏകനായ്, പ്രിയതരമാമൊരു
"ബഹുസ്വരകവിത"പാനംചെയ് വേന്
എന് രസനയിലതു സകല
സൌന്ദര്യച്ചാറായ് മാധുരിപ്പൂ;
വാക്കിതിലടങ്ങാ പ്രപഞ്ച
ഗാംഭീര്യമെന് മധുപാത്രത്തില് !
(Malayalam language version)
Dec 19, 2015
Dec 19, 2015 at 10:08 AM UTC
Varghese has no home.
Stays in his workplace.
Jesus’s very own man.
Big rosary around his neck.
And a matching wooden cross.
He gardens around the yard
On days of no work.
Holds a deep grudge
Against the trees around.
Doomed are they the moment
His eyes settle on them.
Asked him once whether
His rancor was because
Jesus was crucified on wood.
Or, was it the wheezing that
the Acacia trees caused?
Or, was it the itchy worms
from the soft wood trees?
He said time and again
‘Brother, I love the trees
More than you love them.’
Have seen many times
The birds from the trees
Chopped down by Varghese
Looking for their nests.
Clearing the bushes along
The road to the office was
Varghese’s job for the day.
When I went out for a smoke
Glowing was he about
How the place gleamed.
Midnight, after work,
Was driving along the path
Shorn clean by Varghese.
In the blaze of the headlight
A hare dashed frantically
Looking for its bush.
(trans from Malayalam by Ra Sh)
Sep 30, 2013
Sep 30, 2013 at 11:20 AM UTC
Some stories find no reason ever to end,
eternity is all ears throughout the length.
On a plane different,some do not even begin,
possibilities sowed in stardust lie in wait.
*ചില കഥകള് പറഞ്ഞു തീരുന്നതേയില്ല,
അനന്തത അതിനു ചെവിയോര്ത്തിരിക്കുന്നു.
മറ്റെവിടേയോ, ചിലകഥകള് തുടങ്ങുന്നതേയില്ല,
നക്ഷത്ര ധൂളിയില് വിതച്ചിട്ട സാദ്ധ്യതകള് കാത്തിരിപ്പൂ*
(Translated to Malayalam, a language of south India)
Jun 24, 2015
Jun 24, 2015 at 11:36 AM UTC
I was a dense forest of wild desires
love engulfed it as a sudden wild fire,
lit by a spark your kohl rimmed eye emitted,
Never do I want to put it out, not in this life,
as burning for what you've kindled within me
is pure bliss,I realize, mon amie
The embers are alive, giving warmth
while the forest of desires regenerates
at a speed I haven't known ever before.
***
നീ പകര്ന്ന പ്രണയച്ചൂടില്എരിയുകയാണ് ഞാനിപ്പോഴും.
ഞാന് വന്യകാമനകളുടെ സാന്ദ്ര,നിബിഡവനം,
നിന്മഷിക്കണ്ണിലെ തീപ്പൊരി തെറിച്ച്
പെട്ടന്നതില് പടര്ന്ന കാട്ടുതീയാണീപ്രണയം.
അത്കെടുത്താന് എനിക്കീ ജന്മമില്ല,മോഹം.
നീപകര്ന്നു തന്നതിനായ് എരിയുവതേ എന്
പ്രിയ കാമിനി, നിര്വൃതി യെന്നറിവൂ ഞാന്.
കനലുകളുടെസുഖോഷ്മളത ഉള്ളില്പ്പടരവേ,
ഇതുവരെഞാനറിയാത്തൊരു തീവ്ര മാംത്വരയോടെ
വികാരമഹാവിപിനം വീണ്ടുമിതാ ഉണരുകയാണിവിടെ.
(In Malayalam translation)
May 29, 2017
May 29, 2017 at 7:35 AM UTC
She still is the greenest tree in absence,
in my land of obliterated dreams,
the golden fruit my heart desired,
still hangs there, a phantom limb,
my mind hibernates,under the shade of
the banyan tree of renunciation,
still my battle is fierce,Buddha path
or tempting fruit of unquiet desires.
ബോധി വൃക്ഷത്തിലെ കാമഫലം
എൻറെ മായ്ച്ചുകളഞ്ഞ സ്വപനങ്ങളുടെ ഭുമിയിൽ
അഭാവത്തിലും പച്ചച്ച മരമാണവൾ
എന്റെ ഹൃദയം മോഹിച്ച സുവർണഫലം
ഒരു 'ഭൂതാവയവം'പോലെ അതിൽ
ഇപ്പോഴും തൂങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുന്നു !
നിരാസത്തിന്റെ ആൽമരത്തണലിൽ
എന്റെ മനസ് ഹേമന്തനിദ്രയിൽ.
ഇ പ്പോഴും എന്റെ പോര് തുടരുന്നു ;
ബുദ്ധ പാദം പിന്തുടരുകയോ ,
അശാന്ത മോഹങ്ങളെ തേടിച്ചെന്നു പുണരുകയോ?
(MALAYALAM translation)
Oct 12, 2015
Oct 12, 2015 at 9:30 PM UTC
Miserable lover,
didn't I warn you
in the beginning?
പ്രണയക്കുറിമാനം (5 W)
വ്യഥിതകാമിനീ ,
നിന്നോടിതു മുന്നറിയിപ്പായി
ഞാൻ ചൊന്നതല്ലയോ?
(In Malayalam)
காதல் குறிப்பு (6 words)
மாழ்கும் காதலி
உன்னிடம் நான்
முதலிலே எச்சரிக்கவில்லையா?
(In Tamil)
Feb 10, 2015
Feb 10, 2015 at 6:09 PM UTC
By Kuzhur Wilson ( in Malayalam)
(trans from Malayalam by Ra Sh)
Varghese has no home.
Holes up where he works.
Jesus’s own man.
Big rosary around his neck.
And a matching wooden cross.
He gardens around the yard
On days of leisure.
Holds a deep grudge
Against the trees around.
Doomed are they the moment
His eyes settle on them.
Asked him once whether
His rancor was because
Jesus was nailed on wood.
Or, was it the wheezing
the Acacia trees caused?
Or, was it the itchy worms
from the soft wood trees?
He said time and again
‘Brother, I love the trees
More than you love them.’
Have seen many times
The birds from the trees
Chopped down by Varghese
Looking for their nests.
Clearing the bushes along
The road to the office was
Varghese’s job for the day.
When I went out for a smoke
Glowing was he about
the way the place now gleamed.
Midnight, after work,
Was driving along the path
Shorn clean by Varghese.
In the blaze of the headlight
A hare dashed frantically
Looking for its bush.
Oct 7, 2013
Oct 7, 2013 at 2:52 AM UTC
The last drop of poetry i imbibed
was written in light, at your eyes
as my moving lips, avidly partook
the nectar on the petals of your lips
ഞാൻ നുകർന്ന കവിത
(Translated in to Malayalam )
ഞാൻ നുകർന്ന കവിത
തൻ തുള്ളി
നിൻ മിഴികളിൽ വെളിച്ചമായ് തങ്ങി
എൻ പ്രേമവ്യഗ്രമാം ഇരുചുണ്ടുകളാൽ ഞാൻ
നിൻ ഇതളുകളിലെ തേൻ നുകരവേ അതും മോന്തി
Nov 29, 2014
Nov 29, 2014 at 7:46 AM UTC
follow the river,
to reach the sea.
flow like a river
jettisoning every worry!
പിന്തുടരുക
കടലിലെത്തിച്ചേരാന്
നദിയുടെ പാത പിന്തുടരൂ.
എല്ലാ വിഷമവും ഒഴുക്കിക്കളഞ്ഞു
നദിപോല് ഒഴുകൂ.
(Malayalam translation by the author)
பின்செல்லவும்
கடலை அடைவதற்கு.
ஆற்றைபின்பற்று.
கவலைகளை மூழ்கடித்து
ஆற்றைப்போல் ஓடு.
(Tamil translation by the author)
Jun 20, 2017
Jun 20, 2017 at 5:10 PM UTC
Friends! Remember my camel,
that loafer with a permanent grin?
he's been a-chewing a-ruing, ruminating,
upon the yonder and beyond a-pondering
His reins hang loose, his saddle's dusty
his bit is chewn his blanket's musty
his coat's crusted with the scars of Time
he's forlorn for no real reason or rhyme
he's footloose as ever, he just has to wander
in search of all the oases of the yonder
You should see his gait as he kicks up the clods
when he plods, he plods and plods and plods
and when he saunters, it's quite a canter
he and I, we argue, disagree and banter
I think I'm his master but he thinks otherwise
I wish i could rein him in but i know it's unwise
and so i let him have his wayward ways,
together we tread this crazy maze.
(Just last week I tightened his saddle
and he took me to a land
all-green-and-no-sand
where it rained and sploshed
and we both got sloshed...
when the clouds parted and clear was the sky
he was much younger and so was I
he sprang in the air like a kid newborn
there was spring in the air, I too was airborne
the grass was washed, so was the moss
gone from his hair was all the dross
he stopped grunting, he sang instead,
full of Malayalam thoughts in his head
we went to gaze at elephants
(loved their finery but not their chained legs)
we heard drums in their elements
well into the nights we pranced
in ******** raptures we tranced
and woke up lazy by mid-afternoons
with heads so hazy and postpartum blues)
He and I, we've had many a fight
o'er who's the one wrong and who's right
he's been calling every oasis a mirage
I say none of them's a camouflage
he's adamant that it's all an illusion
that I'm tripping and under a delusion
I say I hear him bleat like a goat,
I touch his rain-washed mangy coat
I see him, like a ship, heave and sway
I smell him from quite a mile away
yet I ask myself if all this is not Maya,
if even mirages weren't of realms higher.
Feb 27, 2023
Feb 27, 2023 at 8:51 PM UTC