K. SATCHIDANANDAN
Between
Seventy And Seventy five
There is a dark place
between
Seventy and seventy
five: broad
Like memory, deep like
death.
Those trapped there
have no return.
They roam about in the
childhood bushes
Or fall headlong into
the well of decrepitude.
Be warned if those
between seventy and seventy five
Behave like the young:
for, they are young.
They can love, can
dance to music, and if need be
Even lead a war or a
revolution. In fact
They are not dead,
like most young are.
Those between seventy
and seventy five
May suffer from
delusions: at times they want
A horse-ride; at times
want to fly above oceans and mountains
On the back of an
eagle, wander along deserts
Looking for water that
is not there, stand naked
In the rain, or read a poem no one has written yet. There
Are times when they
feel history is retracing its step,
And feel like crying
aloud, screaming, almost.
The solitude of those
between seventy and seventy five
Is sepia, like some
early morning dreams or
Like the friendships
in old albums. When they
Laugh, sunlight
retreats into village lanes.
Their sweat smells
soft like sesame flowers.
Their walk is like the descending scale of saveri 1
And their lilting speech is littered with gamakas 2
You wonder, why, this
is all about men. Yes,
Women do not pass at
all between
Seventy and seventy
five; invisible to us,
They just glide along
on a tender rainbow of affection,
With the soft feet of
fairies fragrant like heaven
And the smile of
oleanders, an invitation to salvation.
Translated from the
Malayalam by the poet
---
1 Saveri : A raga in Karnatic music
2
Gamakas: embellishments done on a musical note
K. Satchidanandan is widely published Indian poet and
critic writing in Malayalam and English. A pioneer of modern poetry in
Malayalam, he is the festival director of Kerala Literature Festival.
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