I Still Seek- - Poem by Bharati Nayak
I Still Seek- -
Croak, croak
Croaks the frog
The sky is overcast
With clouds
Raindrops falling
And forming puddles
My friend tells
The frog will come and
take away your mother.
See, how he calls.
Oh frog, do this never
Never take away my mother
Oh she loves me
She feeds me
She sends me to school
She tells me stories
She cares me when I fall sick
Oh frog, never
Never take away my mother.
I held my mother's hand
Pleaded her to take me in her lap
Ask her to hold me tight
And cover me with her saree
So that I can not hear
When the frog croaks.
My mother's assuring hand
Caressed my head
She sang me a lullaby
Planted a kiss on my forehead
Sat by my side till I fell asleep
With my mother by my side
Darkness thinned
Fear vanished.
Time has passed
Years have gone by
I have left mother for my new home
Mother has gone frail,
Still I seek her
When I feel worn out
She wipes away the worry
With the ANCHAL of her saree.
Anchal- -One end of saree.
Children are wise. They know their parents cannot live forever, but they dare not speak out their deepest fears directly, so they speak through stories. The frog is a creature of night and its croaks mark a change of season, so the child borrows a frog-monster to speak of fear. The mother comforts the uneasy child with a kiss and caress, as if giving physical protection from the dark. In adulthood the grown-up daughter relives this moment of seeking comfort, but this time it is shown through the anchal of a sari. The anchal is the most intricately patterned part of the sari, and from this poem we can see that it is used expressively.A fine poem,10
Thank you Denis Mair for your kind comment.Your reference to, Anchal as the most most intricately patterned part of the Saree, is really a lovely comment.'Love and affection are the most beautiful aspect of life that fills ones'heart with a sense of pleasure and security..The children who get ample love in their life grow up to show more balanced emotion in their later life.
It doesn't matter how old we get we all still look for our mothers in our times of need.....lovely write Annette
This beautiful.It made me feel emotional. I miss my mom. Thank you.
Amazing idea of expressing how much is the bondage between u and your great mother.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/6/2025 11:26:56 AM # 1.0.0
always the mother. It never ends until we end. Nice expressive piece and I like the use of the image and sound of the frog as reminder of our fragility. The mother-child bond is so special and needed. We all need it. Thanks for sharing Bharati.
Thank you Pamela for your lovely comment.Frog's image is for fragility and children learn it through stories.