
Sometime this month, it was mother’s day. Everyone wrote about their mothers. I didn’t. That’s because it’s impossible for me to write about my mother. Here’s one of her poems you can read instead. It’s about marriage. This will tell you why we mostly get along.
MAN – WOMAN
They come together
Against nature
And call it natural
They’re not made for each other
And live together forever
They declare their love
From the hearts filled with hatred
Before history,
They’d once entered a cave
To seek refuge from the rain
It’s not known who lit the fire
Who roasted the meat
But in the morning
They were found as they are today
They’ve been silent ever since
They silently love and hate
Silently build houses and wealth
They spit outside the room
Inside which they exchange gifts
He is tired of taking
She is tired of giving
Yet, they silently transact bodies
In the last hour of the night
The jungle is remembered
The rain, the dance
The trees flowing with fruits
Those days have vanished
Leaping like a deer
The cave remains
Decorated with potted plants
And piped rains
Boxed fire
Canned food
The partner leaves to hunt
With weapon stuffed inside the wallet
Which is rarely used, frequently displayed
The animal is not carried on the back anymore
They enter together, the hunter and the hunted
Making it impossible to tell who is the dead
She thinks, this time, he won’t return
The idea of freedom thrills her as she
Waits for his corpse, and yet
He returns, each time
Right when he is only ten steps away
She starts laughing
Then curves her body
Fills her eyes with tears
And says how much she doesn’t want to be alone
Right at a distance of ten steps
He messes up his hair
Stops humming
And takes her into his eager arms
To kiss the lips that have been kissed
A thousand times
Neither looks into the other’s eye
I will say it again
It’s against nature that they come together
I will say it again
They’re not made for each other
I am saying it again
He is tired of taking
She is tired of giving …!
(translated from the original Hindi by me)
One response to “The Portrait of a Writer’s Mother as a Poet”
Dear Saudamini,
Thanks for sharing this. Could you please share the Hindi version as well?
Regards, Sagar