The House Is Beautiful Poem by Sreekala Sivasankaran

The house is beautiful
By
Sreekala Sivasankaran


The house is beautiful
To those who see its oldness
Whether it is one year
Or one hundred years
One who sees through the cracks
The dust of limestones falling
On the stained floor tiles, cockroaches running
By the yellow bulb,
The wings of termites burning

The old meal safe carrying steel plates
With names etched on them
Proof of life! Proof of life!

The smell of the rice fields
And the hands that made every offering
The art of the coconut shell
Turning into a flower vase
All the bygone springs...
The faded paintings
In the dimly lit rooms
And the memory of fragrance in the verandah
Fallen flowers in the gravel yard
So beautiful...
Oh, please bend your head
Do not hit on the wooden roof
Watch your steps
The rusted iron pieces on the way

In the marshy monsoon land
A not-so-damaged shoe
Whose pair has been lost
A journey where there's no return

The house is beautiful
To those who can lie down wherever
Oh oh the house is beautiful
The smell of fried green grams and ripe bananas...

The old tree leaning to the earth
Like the tower of Pisa
Cut it off, cut it off
Everyone said
No! Let's restore the tree with cowdung

How old are you?
Memories old
The rain-wet pilgrims
Ascending the Goddess hills at Kudajadri
The wind-shattered umbrella
Visions of the monkeys

A house is no house
Without the cat mother
Sleeping by the earthen stove
The night is no night
If you missed that conversation
Between the cat and the dog
Of the rat's fur falling
As memories flow like the silken feathers of Appooppan thaadi
The house is so beautiful

Sreekala Sivasankaran