GEETA VARMA

 

GEETA VARMA

 

1

 

The Himalayan expanse

 

Wide and green

 

I can absorb only a little

 

The breeze is against me

 

I can hear it

 

I can feel it on my face,

 

On my hands, palms, forehead,

 

Even inside me

 

I stretch my arms, my sleeves flutter

 

It is so soothing, so heavenly!

 

I have tears in my eyes, I cry

 

I have left all the burden behind

 

Let me remain here and not return

 

There is someone calling me from behind

 

I refuse to turn

 

Let me be, for a while, alone.

 

 

2

 

A quiet pond sits lonely in the sun

 

There is no one to throw stones

 

Or disturb her

 

The dry bushes and trees stand still

 

A tiny twig, from a fallen tree,

 

Sticks out from the water

 

A little bird perched there

 

Just flew away into the bushes

 

She returns, sits on a dry branch,

 

Moves her tail, tilts her head

 

What is she thinking?!

 

The bright afternoon sun

 

Scorches my skin as I watch,

 

In silence, the little world go by.

 

 

3

 

Afternoon stillness. The tree outside is shedding leaves. A slow fall. The dry ones, dead, have browned. Where is everyone? If I walk, I’ll crush them. Where have the birds gone?! There is no one in sight. Is this the last hour – the hour of awakening? I watch myself in my bed waiting.

 

GEETA VARMA

 

GEETA VARMA is a poet and a writer based in Chennai. She has been a teacher and a freelance journalist for some time. She has recently published a book of poems, ‘To my violin’ and ‘Twilight ours’ along with her husband Shreekumar Varma.