In early spring our mango tree burst into flowers
And filled our verandah and our hearts with fragrance
As our swinging feet touched the translucent sky
By May tiny mangoes appeared in the dense foliage
Then , one dark night,when we were fast asleep
The monsoon arrived with fierce wind and gale
Spoiling the children’s fun and promises of sweet fruit
We [...]
Archive for July, 2004
27 Jul
Early Rains
27 Jul
Yesternight’s rain
Our dear hibiscus tree had stood upright
In wind and rain,not shedding a leaf
In the morning when we shook the tree
Tiny tingling raindrops fell like icicles
On our falling eyelids and outstretched tongues
Yesterday we were afraid of the fierce rain
Our dear tree stood between us and fear .
26 Jul
Windows
I try to open these windows
Their rusty hinges make creepy noises
As they open out , difficultly,
To endless vistas of light and shadow
The night queen bloomed below them
And I can smell the morning grass
Beyond the red-and-white saree
That hangs, dripping, on the clothesline
Amid shattered pieces of the summer sky.
20 Jul
A night in the Topslip forest
All through the stillness of the night
The wind howled in the bamboo clump
The bamboo bushes danced in rapture
In the inky darkness our searchlight beamed
On shadowy forms of giant-sized bisons
Their luminous eyes stared in unconcern
The creatures of the wild refused to appear
A night safari was just not their idea of fun .
18 Jul
Corners
Those days we felt every corner
Light poured through them
A gentle breeze blew over them
The corners had their own soul
They were lying in a pool of light
Creating their own silhouettes
The jasmines whispered in the corners
Through soft jellied moonlight
Their fragrance held us in thrall.
Our old tiled house had its corners
Soft and purring like our family kitten
They cast such [...]
14 Jul
The Temple of Avinashi
I stand,here, on the night’s edge
I come face to face with myth
Mankind’s collective conscious
Through the hazy mists of time
I see images of life and death
And an evanescent human existence
A poet sang his mellifluous song
Of regeneration , of reawakening
A boy rose from death’s nonexistence
The Lord of Time and Destruction
Restores to the Creator his powers
Here, both the [...]
7 Jul
Stillness
He stands on the other shore
Beauty comes to us in waves
Up there , he rolls them , softly,
With hypnotising hand-motions
The morning is gilded and mystical
There are now only gentle ripples
I sit alone in the hotel room
My limbs stiff and my mind still
After several acts of inane tokenism
I have failed to synchronise
The movement of my body [...]
