my head flies off
my neck
and begins
to float
like a balloon
in the sky
and I feel
so much lighter
I laugh
and there
down below
I see my body
waving at me
jumping up
and down
in joy
and I glide
freely
laughing louder
drifting in the air
till I merge
with myself
on the ground
once again
and all my pain
is gone
I am reborn
at the threshold
of a new dawn.
and at lunchtime
restaurant workers
come out on the road
hailing busloads
of devotees
to stop for their meal
here and here and here
and Thekkady Junction
is full of them waving
and shouting
this wet day when
the skies are grey
and a white
lady tourist
in a fruit shop
cuts the top
of a mango open
to see if it’s ripe
and cops in their
khaki uniforms
go about
directing traffic
and I am full
of joy walking
in my windcheater
thanking the drizzle
for making life sweeter.
to breathe
near the forest
next to the mountains
bright and happy
and how the sky
smiles at us
the clouds moving
slowly
waving at us
and suddenly
I hear laughter
and it is the sun
and I find myself
jumping up
and down
and I too am
laughing in joy.
I say
and I turn into
a bird
this golden day
with such
a sweet song
the world
is happy
the green trees
dance
and the blue sky
sings along
with me
right on key
and the cosmos
claps in joy
as I fly
and now I see
all of you
tapping your feet
to my tune
and waving
and shouting hi
and I am
so ecstatic
I cry.
and I know
it loves me too
see how happily
the trees sway
waving out to me
and the air here
is their kisses
and I am tingling
in this loving breeze
I can almost feel
the leaves
caressing me
like so many of them
embracing me
and I am ecstatic
every pore
in my body
opens and says
aaahhh
and now the sky
laughs
and reborn
beyond belief
I smile.
flying in the sky
and the blue vault
is my home
and I sing in joy
O how happy
I am to be alive
and I feel the Earth
below smile at me
I can see the cities
the mountains the oceans
and each and every person
there is waving out to me
and I can feel their happiness
in the air that I breathe
and I am touched
I spread my wings and fly
full of love.
is the huge white sky
in my eyes
silence in my mind
peace in my heart
my body calm
as a still sea
and the green trees
of the forest sway
waving to me
each and every one
of them
and into the quietness
the birds dive and sing
carrying my world
on a wing
and I am one
with the universe
passing through
me like air
so open
I have become
so free.
the world bright golden
its light shining
to a high glow
and Selma’s grandson
is having a ball next door
he is shrieking in joy
Anzarimama Anzarimama
he calls laughing in happiness
as his uncle asks him
to climb up something
and then Abdul comes
and asks the boy for a kiss
and Noorja shouts for her son
from inside the house
and asks him if he put out the clothes
to dry on the terrace and Anzari
shouts out yes and then there is silence
and I can still feel that boy’s emotion
while I was on the terrace earlier
when Anzari was spreading out the clothes
to dry and this sweet kid was scared
of coming out onto the open terrace
so he stood on the staircase and looked
and I was watching him though he didn’t see me
and he was slowly climbing step by step
as he overcame his fear and he finally
made it to the terrace and Anzari
then picked him up and carried him to the edge
of the terrace while the boy smiled
and then Anzari twirled around with the boy
and the kid was thrilled and laughing and then I waved
at them and Anzari saw me and I called out hello
and Anzari shouted hello back and asked the child
to wave at me and the boy now started waving
at me delighted to spot me there and I called out hello
again and again as we waved at each other overjoyed.
Dominic Alapat 