here in Kumily
bus after bus
with vacationers
go up my road
along with trucks
carrying water
to homestays
and hotels
more houses
are coming up
since I came
to this town
almost seven
years ago
and new views
have opened up
after trees were cut
I look at the mountains
all around me
and I feel like water
in their palm
as I am drunk
by the sky
and fall like rain.
is the body and mind
both water
and warm sunshine
and wind
it is the green
and the silence
of the mountains
it is the sky gathering
you in its arms
it is your breathing
quiet and free
your hands
like the leaves
of a tree
it is your illness
fading away
your flesh your bones
giving you comfort
it is the conversations
of people
in different languages
sounding the same
their voices
flowing sweetly
it is life telling you
its secret is love
as your eyes open
and the world
turns golden.
its people
its land and water
and everything
has been poisoned
the animals the birds
the fish are all messed up
and we humans have turned
ourselves and our planet
into garbage
we are digging our own graves
we don’t give a shit about life
and death and our children
or anyone or anything else
we have no meeting point
we collide into each other
having lost our senses
we crawl on the ground
and drink our own blood.
into my eyes
and I feel my face
and neck
and feel good
and there is
drumming
somewhere
in the
neighbourhood
and I am
transported back
hundreds of years
and become
a banyan tree
a stone lion
golden eagles
flying free
and there is
this sensation
in my body
making me
feel like water
like a baby
being born
torn from
the womb
of mother Earth
and at her breasts
I soon suckle
the nectar of life
so sweet
while she rocks me
in her arms
and when our
eyes meet
I see the universe
blow me a kiss
and I laugh
for the first time
happy and in rhyme.
and noise
it is so bad
to do this
to us
it is such a
terrible thing
and I find
myself drowning
and the horror
of it
this world
taking our lives
the setting sun
kicking us
with its feet
pushing us back
into the water
that finally
kills us.
and it feels good
to be at home
writing
and the sound
of the raindrops
is so beautiful
so relaxing
I feel like water
in a pond
calm and peaceful
and these droplets
fall into me
like deep solace
and then animals
come and drink
from me
and that feels
like love
and then I feel
the Earth that
embanks me
all around
how I am born
from it
and I come
back to myself
with a smile
as I am freed
like air
and become
someone’s
breath.
where thoughts
blow around
so fast
everything
is a airy whoosh
of white
it takes such
a long time
for things
to return
to normal
so long
before
I come back
to myself
when I am
so happy
to see
this bright
red black
and brown
giant Malabar
squirrel
go past
my neighbour’s
verandah
and there is
Mani’s quiet
laughter
from his house
before silence
so pure
I feel I am
water
then this bird
starts whistling
and it sounds
so beautiful
so enchanting
I am lifted
into the morning’s
wet skies
where I flow
in ecstasy.
makes love to my mind
and the birds start to sing
the forest enfolds me in her arms
and I shudder in pleasure
as I turn into the river
now I am water
you can drink
and slake your thirst
and you can dive into me
and swim
I will satisfy your every whim.
in the trees behind my house
when I’m having breakfast
and now the birds are chirping
so joyfully as I write this
and the wind begins to blow
and I am happy this wet day
this moment as my mind
sways like a drop of water
before it falls and mixes
with the Earth and I close
my eyes in bliss and open them
and find I am born again
like the falling rain.
blue and cool
from these mountains
here
green under the golden sun
and cattle eat the grass
as birds chirp
and my neighbour’s TV drones
and this sweet little girl talks
as a scooter goes by
then there is the silence
of the valleys
and I am able to dive
all the way to the bottom
and see the water there
and drink it
and fall in love with the world
once again.
Dominic Alapat 