[Translation] Poetry

This is how poetry seeps onto paper.
Slowly and stealthily,
illuminating deep buried secrets.

In that momentary flash of light
the undated coal paintings on cave-walls
come to life.

Nail marks, blood stains
and many wooden crosses line up.
Inside the deep wound on the palm,
we hear oceans roar.
Transcending the waves of time
through the pages of history,
when poetry arrives battling for breathe,
from the soul of sea weeds,
the scriptures would speak out.
The horses with their hoof beats
would then pry open the closed doors of mind.

Then, drenched in the downpour of love,
clothed in moonlight,
similes and metaphors
will perch atop the thrones
vacated by shattered myths.

It is then that the storm brewing within
kills the silently burning flames
and from inside closed doors of ghostly manors,
Poetry shrieks in the tone of those dead; and
head down into the endless abyss of restless silence
between dreams and reality
you can see poetry walking on a thin tightrope,
naked.

Malayalam Poem titled “Nagnam” © P. Udayabhanu
Translation titled “POETRY” © Vijay Nair 8th September, 2005