K Radhakumar
I’m normally a late riser.
But today I wake to a clear blue sky
The herald of the arrival of spring.
The skies above Imphal
Where I was born
Are ablaze with colours –
The pinks and yellows of the sun
The greens of the treetops
The dark greens of the hill in the background.
The sound of birds chirping is lively and cheerful.
Why, it’s fine –
Everything in the garden is rosy.
I don’t know
If I was woken by the dawn chorus.
The air is filled with the scent of flowers;
The bright colours
The musical song
The delicate scent –
Do these make any difference?
Yes, these make all the difference.
There’s a feeling of happiness in the year.
Every week I write a poem
For the Sunday issue of a daily newspaper;
I write mostly on Friday evenings.
Sometimes I find myself to be in a foul mood
And at such a moment
The old question comes back with a new force:
Why do I write?
What is my poetry for?
Will it be able to save mankind
Who mask their helplessness with lowering eyes
From the recent onslaught of nCoV?
What is it
To the end of the world from a nuclear war?
Is it a mere escapist fantasy?
My dearest wish is to utter a word of truth
From the bottom of my heart
And greet the early and late risers
And those who wake up with a terrible hangover
On a sunny Sunday morning
And bring about
A new Awakening
A new Day
A new Life
Of a new Age.
That’s my idea of a poem,
My idea on a Friday of all Fridays.