Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Recognition




He arrived with a  rucksack
Not of canvas but of rags of rags.
His arms were open carrying
An open card of message.
 He, a leper with broken
 Fingers and toes with
 Insensibility to pain,
Seems recovered from a
Severe leprosy attack,
 Unbolted the gate.

Sought he seclusion from relations
 Because they, he thought,
Would stay away from
Him for fear of being affected.
 Instances like being away from
Him by even the beggars, he faced. 
Heard he from a pauper, a well-wisher,
“Better, for you, is solitude, if not
 You will pick in your collection
 Derision and disdain from your kin.”

Two lovely little fingers unbolted
The door and loomed at the verandah.
Unfurling his toy wallet, a coin,
The juvenile took out and dropped
On the card, the beggar held for alms.
The coin was the gift fromA mom
To settle his scallywags of snatching
From his brother's little collection,
Resulted, though, that in a battle
Between the two brothers.

The tinkle of twinkles knuckled
At the table charmed the tiny eyes.
And they had found their way
To the folder the toddler held.
Addressed him 'Appooppa' the toddler, 
Presenting an unruffled smile.
That most heart- winning word,
He had ever heard from a mouth
Since his misery from  malady,
Amazed him in profound grade.

*A solemn word in Malayalam to address grandfather with concern and affection.

The seed of the poem is a real incident. In haiku if I cut short,
‘Toddler calls beggar grandfather.
He raises eyes gaily and sends fondly
A glance  astounding. ’
sarala


20 comments:

  1. Very moving poem. The end brings some optimism. The child's spontaneous response is the highliht of the poem.

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  2. Excellent. Children are innocent and intellegent. We could learn a thing or two from them.

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  3. wow...
    the concluding lines were so powerful..
    lovely piece from u...
    recognition... theme was great

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  4. Very touching... it moved me to tears as it reminded me of my tata :)

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  5. Thank you,me. So I could stimulate nostalgia in you!

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  6. Sublime, poignant, and full of feel. Perhaps a bit more polishing would have been great?
    I would recommend you a blog, "My travels , my life", and the Blogger is Balachandran .V. Since you have a flair for poetry do visit that blog and you will find the link there to his poetry page. It will help you for sure. And he is good .

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  7. Thank you.I'll definitely visit that blog.

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  8. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. The topic of the post was only the distortion of Malayalam pronunciation and not that of English. I think the newsreaders and reporters and anchors in Malayalam channel should be given lessons in diction.

    Your poem has an interesting and touching theme. I would suggest - use simpler words, get a feel of rhythm, do not give importance to rhyming, be more visual.

    Rudraprayag - why? :-) I am a Himalayan aficionado and has ofter passed through and stayed at Rudraprayag. I am curious why you chose it!

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  9. Thank you for the suggestion.I'll try those ways. Rudraprayaga-I had a friend from Uttaraghand long before and she had two tongues to speak about the confluence.I wanted some connection with mythology.

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  10. Excellent. I liked your Haiku too.

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  11. Such a fascinating poem, my dear Sarala. Like the concluding lines..most!! And your haiku is just awesome!!

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  12. That was a touching poem that made eyes moist

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