The Dream of a Small Bird
K. Padmakumar *
Little people we are
Fathers and uncles - all of us,
They look at me but do not see,
Nor know even when seen;
What they see are but themselves only.
A small bird
Confined in a small cage
Looks dishearteningly again and again
At its friends, the wild birds
Flying freely spreading its wings
In the infinite green sky
Touching the tip of the rainbow
of seven colours.
Drinking its fill of water
From the seven seas
And with eyes closed it dreams:
A small homestead pond
in a quiet corner
Beautiful as tang-ga
made of changbi leaf
And brimful of silvery water -
Ah! I could not fly across it
even for a day;
It would like to appreciate its image
Reflected brightly in the clear surface
of the water.
(Translated from my late father's Manipuri poem Uchek Macha Amagi Manglan by K. Radhakumar. changbi is a variety of banana plant. Tang-ga in the shape of a round platter is made by cutting out from its broad leaf with a pair of scissors, and is used, especially, on social occasions like a platter. So used tang-ga radiates sanctity.)
* Poem written by K. Padmakumar which was published at Hueiyen Lanpao (English Edition)
This poem was webcasted on February 10 2013.
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