Dream Dance Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair

They were two thugs
Tough men
Who fought for their territory
Like animals in jungles

One had settled there before
The other one came later
Both ferocious like tigers
Muscles had the deciding power

They came out of their abodes
Showered abuses on each other
Insecure the other guy might win
Reason to be cautious

Their words were acid, vituperative
Yet, they dared not take
The duel to a physical level
Aren’t all our heroes
After all silly cowards?

Then they found a rhythm
In their vociferous exchange
Something their dithering feet
Could emulate
There was an element of dance
And measure
Even in mutual mud-slinging

And they danced
The two thugs
Engaged in a wordy duel
Vituperative like volcanoes
Throwing lava on each other

The villagers saw them dance
Joined in, women and kids
In sheer abandon
The whole place danced

What a splendorous beauty that was
That began in a duel
Of enmity and ended
In absolute felicity
Of great abandon of the feet

The thugs danced
As did the villagers
And then the whole world
Joined in, black and white
Brown who took themselves white
Oh, that was a sea of mirth
Frothing, brimming out of bounds

And then came the tidal wave
Of animals of all sorts
From nearby jungles
They all danced
Like never before
In rare camaraderie

Lo, the deer and wildcats together
Antelopes, lions and tigers
And the trumpeting pachyderms
No one knows what got into their heads
They moved in a swirl
That shamed dervishes everywhere
Oh, could this be our world! ?

And then I awoke
That was a dream
That came from far of heavens
Early in the morning at five O’clock

I rolled on my bed restless
I had all the dance
Still in my waking senses
Yet, I can’t make it happen again
For, I am condemned to be human
In a world where friends can’t be
Only at each other’s throat could we be