In the settling dust of cricket- song evenings
when the school books tumble onto beds
and satchels are shaken out
when the flickering brass lamp throws moving shadows
over the framed pictures of deities
and on children playing on straw mats
when the old woman fans herself
with the literary supplement of the newspaper
chanting verses from her favourite scriptures
while waiting for the power to be restored
When the raindrops plop into a bucket
finding the gaps in the red terracotta roof
and hearty frogs croak late into the sultry night
and the road becomes a brown shallow stream
A torch glow precedes each passing shadow
street dogs hold baying competitions
and the hungry cow moos for her grassy supper
It is then that an artificial world within recedes
letting the senses soak in the night rain
and petrichor replaces machinery fumes
and life seems worth all its struggles.
-Reena
April 2013
Yes, then… beautiful poem Reena
Thank you Ampat Koshy.
” A year of dust..” ,draws the reader’s parameters of consciousness inexorably inwards.The poem’s repeated use of, “when” denotes the passage of relative linear time and their allotted quotidian dramas.The use of “machinery” ,is well judged in its use as almost a perjorative counterpoint to the expression of existential joy at the return to an essentially unfettered human sense of well-being.
I couldn’t have thought it out this beautifully! Your comments are astute, insightful and add so much to the original poem. Thank you for being there always- your support is invaluable.
Felt that am back in my childhood.amazing.
Thank you Fatima
What a beautiful poem, Reena 🙂
Thank you 🙂 … again Ampat Sir.
Beauty wafts from every word and hits one like the welcome petrichor…..thanks.
Honoured Santosh Bakaya!
Every line of it so true in our country… Even today..power failure …hand fans..reciting some scriptures..leaking roof..collecting drops in bucket…
Everything so Indian
And the concluding lines
‘And petrichor replaces machinery fumes’. I love that aroma….Life truly seems worth all its strug gle…
Very happy Sarada, you read it in such detail. Our villages are just as similar as we are. Thanks a lot.
Such an exquisite, divine love poem dedicated to the unadulterated beauty and sublimity of life itself…every line was melodious and pure! Thank you, Reena, for writing such a beautiful ode to life, an antidote to all our worldly struggles…
So glad to know your beautiful heart through your words.
Best,
Lopa.
Bless you for your words of encouragement Lopa. I admire the way you read and respond to poems. Thank you.