An Early Morning
- Deep from the Soul -
K. Padmakumar *
Birds do not use intoxicants
Nor get drunk even for a day;
When I hear them sing
I can have a complete peace of mind.
Once in a while early in the morning
When I listen intently to the cry of birds
I remember my early days,
My heart leaps at childhood memories
And life is suddenly fair.
When I look at the world around me
And also when I look up in the sky
I see the world in a new way
And see man as designed
To blend in with the surroundings.
With a flash of insight
And at certain pregnant moments I feel
Yesterday and today and tomorrow
Achieve logical continuity.
There is no such thing called moment
As a distinct and different entity,
There is no such thing called milieu
Other than this milieu,
The hearth and home
Ponds, rivers and community halls of far-off days
Stood at this very place.
People calling each other
The living voice of man
Deep in conversation in the days that are gone
All these echo through my mind,
The living image of man
I see them like I have seen in the flesh.
I see them one by one
I remember them one after another
Floating on the surface of water
Like withered petals of lotus,
And like they are not dead though long dead
With visages not changed.
Man is part of the family of Nature
And he lives in this big house
Appearance changing from time to time.
(Translated from my father's Manipuri poem Anganba Ayuk Ama by K. Radhakumar)
* Poem written by K. Padmakumar which was published at Hueiyen Lanpao (English Edition)
This poem was webcasted on March 16, 2014.
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