Endless Sojourn Poem by Madathil Rajendran Nair
Endless Sojourn
It drizzled on the way I walked
To my sister's house in that unknown town
That cast a deja vu on me
As though I knew every street
That traversed its length and breadth
Although I knew I had to walk
At least a couple of miles
I chose not to hire
A taxi or take a bus
For I have always liked
To walk in the rain
With an umbrella unfurled over my top
The rain then thickened
And fast it was sheets of water
Or just deluge
Falling over all around
The green paddy fields
Alongside the road
That I trod
Within no time turned
Into raging muddy seas of tea
That frothed and brimmed
Overflowing the path I walked
Knowing it was futile
To walk in that downpour
I sought shade
At a roadside bus shelter
Alongside my path
From where when I looked askance
To my right where it was seaside
I saw tourists languishing under sunshades
And in no time the waves
Had them devoured
A tsunami then arose
From nowhere and had
Half of the bus shelter in her fold
It was a nightmare
From which I awoke
The door was open
And the monsoon wind
Was blowing across
My calves were cramped
Did I die there at the bus shelter
Taken in by the tidal wave
Or did the collapsing roof
Fall over my delicate head
That I died then and there
To awake again cramped on my morning bed?
Who knows, life is a jigsaw
Dreams too, we die and wake
In deluge and in cramps
The one who knows this
Lives unborn
Without death in an endless sojourn
That was captivating, beginning so pleasant until the nightmare of helpless inundation. Nightmares have always been a source of release, of discontent for worry, helplessness and anxiety. Something creates them, they are not random reels of a bizarre display but strange tales told in the night finding release for the mind of our daytime wandering....sleep well!
Thanks Edmund. I haven't been that active at PH these days. I have to catch up with what is happening and particularly focus on your recent poetry. Regards.
I am glad you recalled the dream well enough to write this. I have tried to remember enough of some to put down in writing, but only dim flashes remain.
Thank you, Sir. My electronic wristwatch which analyzes my sleep says that a major chunk of my sleep is REM. The moment I doze off, the dreams begin so much so that I am not able to say which is waking and which is dream. I think my philosophical preoccupation with Mandukya Upanishad, which studies the three states of waking, dreaming and dreamless deep sleep, has something to do with all this.
Sister is affectionate and sister's home is also affectionate. The green paddy fields along the roadside motivates mind. The nightmare scribbles mind with joy and fear. Life and death are bot wonderful sequence of life. Monsoon wind loses wave. An amazing emotional poem is excellently penned...10
Wonderful poem Sir. The rains and floods in Kerala has really become a nightmare. We have also had sleepless nights, thinking of the innocent people being swept away by the floods. The God's own country has just witnessed, perhaps, the worst ever destruction with nature's fury. Excellent........10
Thanks Ma'am. This particular dream occurred much before the Kerala deluge. Perhaps, it was a premonition. That is a debatable point. Don't know why I have frequent dreams of natural disasters these days.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/25/2024 7:45:12 AM # 1.0.0.1119
This a beautiful poem indeed. Nice recalling of dream and putting down on paper. 'Who knows, life is a jigsaw Dreams too, we die and wake In deluge and in cramps The one who knows this Lives unborn Without death in an endless sojourn..' is very nice.10++++
Thanks a lot, Panda-ji, for your nice words. Appreciate your kindness.