Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sun-bath on a Wintry Morn


That chilly morning is like

Watching a plateau under a soap bubble.

Just as an ice block is unaffected within

When the without is sun-scanned,

The baby sun could just warm me skin-deep.

One has to warm up the cold veins otherwise.

No matter how long you stand in the sun

Hands and feet always look just dipped out of the chill.

Like the ‘December-flower’, though,

The pink of the pulchritude look laid up in winter,

My inability to stand up to cold

Hangs on to me like hairs.

Strangely enough,

The sun-warmed body

No sooner it comes under the pelerine of a shadow

Cools down instantly

Like a lamp’s burn out.

Like you never fell getting out of beach waters,

Like the mind that can never get over

The hang over of a maiden kiss,

This morning sun bath

On the ice-razor’s edge

Coolly scissors through my heart.

Beginning with face

Its smooth lukewarm touch

Plants kisses steadily all over me.

From the cold-split lips

It delves into the gullet

And melts the icy blood to stream.

As long as I face it,

It balms warmth layer by layer.

But the moment I turn my back,

It peels them all layer after layer.

Having couched up my body

All night like a folded umbrella,

I long to warm it up in the sun

Like a peacock its plumes.

How supple is the heart of the morning sun

That adorns my eastward door like a curtain!

No doubt!

It befriends and relaxes me in its lap.

Mother like, she caresses every inch of my body

Lays me on her legs

And bathes me like a babe.

....................

Translated by N.S.Murthy

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