PAADHASAARI VISWANATHAN

 TWO POEMS BY

PAADHASAARI VISWANATHAN

Translated into English by Latha Ramakrishnan(*First Draft)

1. THE CAGE

In the patio of the adjacent house

In the cage made of

wire entwined upon a wooden frame

two pairs of love-birds.

Even for the house of those

colourful pairs of love-birds

a lock

and the key at the entrance

On an evening turning dark

on the patio

when none was around

a two year old boy of that household

took the key and opened the lock

All the four tiny birds leapt out

and flew away

The boy clapped and laughed

rolling joyously.

The next day

I chanced to see the next door patio

Wonder why but the empty cage

lay there

locked as before.

2. RELEASE

Oh, why is it that exactly when I am

soaking the mop stick in Lyzol

and cleaning the floors inside the house

poem-lines lilting and leaping within

crave and strive to find a release...

The anguish of the chick

struggling to break open the egg-shell

The work at hand would shudder

If leaving it midway and go

the cane-lash sign of livelihood

would spread all over

as pain unbearable.

Oh, my soulmate Tamil

Save me from the peril

of having my poem breathe its last

ere I finish cleaning all four rooms

of my dwelling

and taking white sheet and pen

start writing

at last.