Poem
Kanaka Ha. Ma.
SERIES OF OMENS
Don’t disbelieve omensOmens are clues
Warnings from the soil
Shrivelling up again and again,
Dying even as they sprout —
A broken clay lamp,
A discarded puppet, suffocated in its own swaddling,
A neglected devi in the corner of a village, unworshipped, wrathful
A series of nightmares.
The residue of past karma
Or this life’s folly —
Torment churning ceaselessly in a whirlpool —
Finally ends.
Next morning,
Sunshine
The clues connect —
A line of a poem read somewhere
Two birds flying in the sky
Sparrows nesting in a loft
The odour of neelanjana, always burning
The creeper in the backyard, flowering …
© Translation: 2006, Kanaka Ha. Ma., Priya D\'Souza
devi: a goddess
neelanjana: a small lamp lit in front of an idol
SERIES OF OMENS
© 2006, Kanaka Ha. Ma.
From: Arabi Kadalu
Publisher: Akshara Prakashana, Sagar
From: Arabi Kadalu
Publisher: Akshara Prakashana, Sagar
Poems
Poems of Kanaka Ha. Ma.
Close
SERIES OF OMENS
Don’t disbelieve omensOmens are clues
Warnings from the soil
Shrivelling up again and again,
Dying even as they sprout —
A broken clay lamp,
A discarded puppet, suffocated in its own swaddling,
A neglected devi in the corner of a village, unworshipped, wrathful
A series of nightmares.
The residue of past karma
Or this life’s folly —
Torment churning ceaselessly in a whirlpool —
Finally ends.
Next morning,
Sunshine
The clues connect —
A line of a poem read somewhere
Two birds flying in the sky
Sparrows nesting in a loft
The odour of neelanjana, always burning
The creeper in the backyard, flowering …
© 2006, Kanaka Ha. Ma., Priya D\'Souza
From: Arabi Kadalu
From: Arabi Kadalu
SERIES OF OMENS
Don’t disbelieve omensOmens are clues
Warnings from the soil
Shrivelling up again and again,
Dying even as they sprout —
A broken clay lamp,
A discarded puppet, suffocated in its own swaddling,
A neglected devi in the corner of a village, unworshipped, wrathful
A series of nightmares.
The residue of past karma
Or this life’s folly —
Torment churning ceaselessly in a whirlpool —
Finally ends.
Next morning,
Sunshine
The clues connect —
A line of a poem read somewhere
Two birds flying in the sky
Sparrows nesting in a loft
The odour of neelanjana, always burning
The creeper in the backyard, flowering …
© 2006, Kanaka Ha. Ma., Priya D\'Souza
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