The Embroidery of Darkness

PC: SUDEVAN

When darkness and thoughts interweave, they trap a lone, raw nerve in their loops, wreathing solitude. A flower blooms in it, and a spring of smiles make way through the darkness. And it's not dark. Not anymore.

തുന്നൽ

ഇരുട്ട് തുന്നി വന്ന
പച്ച ഞരമ്പിൻ
തുമ്പത്ത്
ഹൃദയം
പൂത്തു നിന്നു.

© Jayashree Peringode

Stitch

Darkness gathered
in a stitch
a raw nerve,
the heart blooming
at its tip.

© Sujatha Warrier

[First published in http://indianperiodical.com/]

The Transcendental Element

PC: POORNIMA

The flower looks towards the sky, yet it belongs, by nature, to the earth. It merges back into the earth, yet it is divine, ethereal. This little bloom is but you and I. Reaching for the skies, we return to dust. Having turned into dust we - the essential 'you' or 'I' - cross all boundaries of the elements.

Here's a poem by Jayashree Peringode followed by its translation.

നിഷ്കപടം           

ഉയിരാർന്നിതൾ വീശി

വിണ്ണിലേക്കായുന്ന

മണ്ണാണ് നീ; നറും

പുഞ്ചിരിച്ചെണ്ടായി

മണ്ണിലേക്കിറ്റുന്ന

വിണ്ണാണു നീ.

© Jayashree Peringode

Unfeigned

Ensouled, you surge into the sky
in a sweep of petals,
the earth that you are,
you drop to the ground
in a posy of a sweet smile,
the heaven that you are.

© Sujatha Warrier

[The above poem and translation were first published on indianperiodical.com.]

The Moonlight Dance

Jayashree Peringode

Thiruvathira. The day Goddess Parvathi became one with Lord Siva. Women in Kerala celebrate this holy day by fasting, chewing on betel leaves, and dancing in groups around a fully lit traditional lamp in the courtyard, late into the full-moon night.

തിരുവാതിര is a Malayalam poem by Jayashree Peringode. The poem is so beautiful that one wants to re-versify it in English. In the process of re-versification, one munched on the poem for so long that it dyed one's thoughts in a flush of emotions. And the heart knew what it meant to leap and dance in joy.

തിരുവാതിര

കാറ്റു തേയ്ക്കും
തണുത്ത ചുണ്ണാമ്പ്
നീറ്റിയേറ്റും നിലാവിനെ
തിന്നു ചോപ്പിച്ചൊ-
രാതിരേ വരൂ
എന്നിലാടിക്കുതിച്ചിടൂ..

© Jayashree Peringode

Thiruvathira

Come, Athiré,
munch on the moonlight
singed, laden
with limey chill
smeared by the wind,
Come reddened,
leap a dance in me!

© Sujatha Warrier

Of Yellow Hues

PC: RIA

മഞ്ഞ

ചുഴിഞ്ഞിറങ്ങി-

ക്കലരുന്നതോ

വെയിൽ

നിൻ്റെ വെൺനിലാപാട്ടിൽ?

നിന്നിൽ നിന്നൂറി-

പ്പരക്കുന്നതോ മഞ്ഞ

എൻ്റെ ശൂന്യമാം വാനിൽ?

© ജയശ്രീ പെരിങ്ങോട്

Amber

Whether it be the sun
seeping down
melting into
the fair moonlight of your song
or the yellow hue
oozing from you
diffusing
in my sky of nothingness?

© Sujatha Warrier

 

Light of Knowledge

PC: Manikantan Mundakkal

Knowledge and ignorance. One chases and the other flees. It's like a chasing game between light and darkness. The darkness of ignorance has to be driven away by the light of knowledge. While darkness can always creep in on its own, light has to be kindled.

Translation is a delightful experience as you delve into each line and the lines in between.

അറിവ്

ഇരുളു ചുറ്റി-

വരിയും വെളിച്ചമേ 

കുതറി മാറുക -

പിന്നെയുമിഴ-

ഞ്ഞെത്തുമിരുട്ടിനെ 

ഒറ്റനോക്കാൽ 

തുരത്തുക -

നീയാണു സത്യമെന്നു 

നിറഞ്ഞു പടരുക -

© ജയശ്രീ പെരിങ്ങോട്

Knowledge

Shrug away, Light,

this darkness
that binds you tight!

Chase it away
with a glare
should it crawl back again.

Swell up and suffuse
as you would
the truth that you are.

© Sujatha Warrier