I Shall Console Myself

This poem is in reply to Vineetha Mekkoth's poem "Shall I Console Myself" (from the collection 'Penpiravi - Birth of a Woman'), which is a translation of the Malayalam poem "Njan Ashwasichotte?" (from the collection 'Penpiravi') by Girija Pathekkara. The original poem is dedicated to the one-and-a-half-year-old vagabond child who was cruelly raped and abandoned some years back near the Kozhikode Medical College.

I Shall Console Myself

 

that
the pain in your shuttered eyes
will fog their vision so
they remain blinded
to the last light
on their shady life road,

that
the cries on your hushed lips
will split their ears so
they remain deafened
to the last rhythm
of their heart's highs and lows,

that
your body they twisted, tore apart
will haunt their limbs so
they are weighed down
till the last lap
toward their own dead-end goals,

that
the blood you drained
will drench and soak them so
no fire will ever rise
in their belly
to rouse what's left of their soul.

The translated poem by Vineetha Mekkoth is quoted below.

Shall I Console Myself

That child's
tiny feet
used to measure out
the burning roads - 
sucking on her thumb
like a clay doll
lay her naked little body.
Her tiny lips
lisped 'Ammmma...'
Now I see her
on the TV screen.
Tired, dark body
smattered with
drops of blood.
Wide eyes
unwilling to cry,
silent.
A one-legged doll
clasped to her chest.
As you grow
may the dark memories
of that roaring lustful night
be erased from you,
my child.
Thus, may I console myself?

And here's the original poem in Malayalam by Girija Pathekkara.

ഞാൻ ആശ്വസിച്ചോട്ടെ?

പിഞ്ചു കാലടികളാൽ 

ചുട്ടുപൊള്ളുന്ന പാതകൾ 

എന്നും പിച്ചവെച്ചളക്കാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു 

ആ കൂഞ്ഞ്-

തള്ളവിരൽ ചുരത്തുന്ന പാൽ 

ഈമ്പി വലിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് 

കളിമണ്ണിൽ മെനഞ്ഞപോൽ 

നഗ്നമായ, കുഞ്ഞുടൽ.

'അമ്...മ്...മ്മ' എന്നവ്യക്തമായ് മൊഴിയുന്ന 

പാൽച്ചുണ്ടുകൾ.

ഇപ്പോൾ ഞാനവളെക്കാണുന്നത് 

ടി.വി. സ്ക്രീനിൽ 

തളർന്നു കരുവാളിച്ച മെയ്യിൽ 

നിറയെചോരപ്പൊടിപ്പുകൾ 

കരയാൻ കൂട്ടാക്കാത്ത കുഞ്ഞുമിഴികളിൽ 

കൊടുംശൂന്യത 

കാലറ്റ കളിപ്പാവയെ 

നെഞ്ചോടു ചേർത്ത ഇളംകൈകൾ 

വളരുമ്പോൾ നിൻ്റെയോർമ്മകൾക്ക് 

തൊടാനാവാത്തത്രയും 

പിറകിലായിരിക്കും 

അലറുന്ന കാമത്തിൻ്റെ

ആ ഇരുണ്ട രാത്രിയെന്ന് 

മകളേ,

ഞാൻ ആശ്വസിച്ചോട്ടെ?   

Rain

Rain

The clouds are so very dark and deep

Or is that only what I could draw

Perhaps, she must be praying and yearning

To get out of this seasonal prison of Sky

Strange was her journey, fearful was her transformation

Time has heard her thunderous cry

She has smiled again with the flash

Dancing in the ecstasy raining down free

No more she, a dark pregnant rain cloud

But a bright tiny drop of life.

Gopakumar Radhakrishnan

A drop of life sinks into waiting arms

wetting parched lips

soothing scaling wrinkles

of a forlorn, barren land,

streaming through shrivelled veins

filling earthen heart with hope

sowing new seeds of energy

fading into eternal skies

into a new womb, a new cloud

and a new life cycle in eternity.

Sujatha Warrier

Silken Skeins

While any creative endeavour for anyone is a solo journey of discovery, collaborative creativity is a delightful adventure. In the latter, there is shared happiness and satisfaction as well as the joy of discovery that's exclusive to each collaborator. Silken Skeins was such an inspired pursuit along with Nirmala Sasi Varier for the anthology, Poetic Symphonies, compiled, edited and published by Gopakumar Radhakrishnan.

Silken are the threads

binding you and me

some in woven dreams,
some tangled underneath,

a few in mellow hues

artfully interlace,
a vivid couple of strands

stray off on their own
entwining in a design

unaligned, unforeseen.

- © Sujatha Warrier

Carefully, gently, I tried
to unravel the enmeshed yarns,
seeking to braid the mellow with the dark,

watching the pattern emerge,
but then I let go off

the gossamer skeins

for I saw the lattice of our ties

best left random as they were

shimmering blithely

unexplained, unpredictable ...

- © Nirmala Sasi Varier

Footfalls of Silence

A duet poem is a joy to write when the poets are in tune with each other. Footfalls of Silence is a poem written with Nirmala Sasi Varier for Synthesis, an anthology of duet poems, published by Poiesis Online (Gopakumar Radhakrishnan).

Footfalls of Silence

I tread carefully

lest I trample on the

leaves of your memory,

the murmurs of your presence

still whispering in my ears,

the silence of your absence

resounding in my heart,

your voice in my memory

fading away in timbre,

your call still tugging at my soul.

Lingering with the flies

of fleeting reminiscences

I stall my lonely steps

for your long-awaited footfalls

to catch up with mine,

I pause at every turn

of an unspoken thought

hoping you will intercept

to meet me at this bend or the next

on this road to infinity.

© Nirmala Sasi Varier/Sujatha Warrier 2013

(Included in Synthesis, an anthology of duet poems.)