My Heart Trembles.. Poem by sundaram chandrakalaadhar

my heart trembles

when i sight a double-tyre-track

zig-zagging through deep forest slopes;

i could at once sense

the haunting of an evil spirit

filled with evil designs in its dark heart;

i could clearly listen

to the sobs in the rustling leaves

of the defenceless age-old trees

bidding good-bye to each other-

why is the menfolk crazy of felling flat

the centuries-old history of nature

with their merciless humming saws?

are they not the heavens on earth,

selfless in service though forbidden to move?

who are you to claim the mastership

when they were born and bred by themselves?

a moment of greed and mad frenzy

would deprive this earth

of the joyful songs of the birds and the leaves

and the green paintings

on the blue canvas of the skies-

can you ever create a single leaf to perfection

at least in your works of art, o man?

why show your cowardliness

on thoroughly bound trees

with death-dealing blows?

o let me learn to tend the forests,

the melodies of creation

and the voice of the angels and gods!



-s.chandra kalaadhar

26.12.2012 / wednesday /maarkazhi 11