Sitakant Mahapatra Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

Sitakant Mahapatra,
An Oriya poet of Orissa,
Orissan myth, populace, art, culture,
Thought, society and tradition,
A ditto Oriya man
With his nativity and roots of Orissa
Writing about the Orissan landscapes,
Intruding upon their resonant silence,
Personal space and scapes.

A poet of some mythical base
And historic historicity,
He is a link
In the historicity and nativity,
A chain in between
Thought and tradition
Carried down over the years
By folktales orally,
Going down
Deep into the depths of time.

The Ramamyana and the Mahabharata,
The Bhagabata
In the Oriya version
Heard through his father
He has not forgotten,
Continues to carry forward
The imprints and impressions
In his verse, word texture
Of the textile of words,
Woven and with prints.

The Oriya village, the temple,
The sea and the rivers,
Coastal Orissa,
Its myth and mysticism,
Historicity and tradition,
Ancient lore and ethics,
He pens through,
The epical narratives and characters
Engaging his space
And casting
An impact of their own.