A Camphor In The Air Poem by lalitha iyer

A Camphor In The Air

Rating: 5.0


Slowly
I am ageing
start was slow
but pace is fast

I did not realise
only when the hair greyed
did I wonder
that I am matured

It is a tragedy
to ripen is to fruit
to mature is fatal
though maturity is wisdom

Slowly I have lost interest
yes, my urge to dress up
and enjoy life afresh
is losing momentum
and I am lagging unwanted

It all began
with my loss of identification
of beings of either Gender
I started treating
Hes and Shes
as if what use
the difference could make?

It is a retreat
all battles have been won
no more passions
lurking underneath
stirring unwanted emotions.

My limbs are crazy
they behave painfully drowsy
the lust for life
it is in the snail pace strife
I miss nothing,
but suddenly everything is gone
blank is the page
ink in the letters have evaporated
the perfume in the bottle
it has become perfect air
no softness in the texture
no satin in the hair touch
nomore my skin
reacts to delicate moisturisers
I just feel
I am a clueless camphor
distilled in the air,
bodyless, odourless
past melted into...... nowhere.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Eyan Desir 03 June 2009

Poetic Wow, I wish you Would teach me how to write like that 10+

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Saadat Tahir 03 June 2009

hi lalitha such a tender beauty u v created from the heart good poetry...its atenner cheers

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Surya . 04 June 2009

anxiety of crossing fourty is in every one.not only that there is a change in body, s metamorphysm also.but the real age is mental age in which you are very young. beautifully conceived and delivered.this para is touching. 'Slowly I have lost interest yes, my urge to dress up and enjoy life afresh is losing momentum and I am lagging unwanted' posted 10 surya

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Raj Arumugam 10 June 2009

a poem with deep insight into ageing...I was expecting though an ending in the poem in which one transcends age through the poetry of your writing...

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Ch J Satyananda Kumar 11 June 2009

I felt the same at 50 when I took voluntary retirement from my work owing to certain personal and health problems. But that is only an illusion which one could easily win over. With a little bit of devotion, a bit dabbling in literary activity, a bit social work and a bit caring for our own family will get rid us of this forty years syndrome. At 40, woman begins a new life. With the children growing up, dwindling responsibilities and finding solutions to most of the financial problems, a woman can rejuvenate her life style by indulging in creative and educational pursuits. Look at Maharani Gayatri Devi, Indira Gandhi, Vasundhara Raje, Kushwant Singh and a lot more people at 80s and 90s they are very active. Weighing the literary merits of your poem it is an excellent piece. Kudos. Be happy.

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Madhabi Banerjee 04 July 2017

wonderful! a true realization. thanks for sharing

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Uma Ram 19 May 2015

lowly I have lost interest yes, my urge to dress up and enjoy life afresh is losing momentum and I am lagging unwanted... True of a woman in her ageing process mam. Yes mam, we women fail to love ourselves in the course of loving others! Thanks for sharing the beautiful thought mam.

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The poem has briefly and wonderfully stated the condition of an aged individual and its downfalls and felt it good.

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Yash Shinde 26 October 2012

explains the central idea well very touching for those who can understand very well written

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Vipins Puthooran 23 September 2011

Really magnanimous wrire.. A great poem

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