}} THE COMING OF DEATH¹ by Mamang Dai |

Poetry at Sangam

SangamHouse

 










THE COMING OF DEATH¹ by Mamang Dai

Inferno

Since the coming of death
Tears blind our eyes when we bury the dead
This salt was given
with a handful of earth from a hornet
weeping over the grave of her children,
mixed with  the sweet song of a bird
weeping after a storm broke her nest.

This must be the path of tears
saying what cannot be told,
Pouring our love on a land
lying so beautiful in drapes and folds
offering love, sleep, rest.
Today, tomorrow: shining, contained,
moulded in a drop to show us
the truth of who we are,
Our hearts were never made of stone.

 

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[1] This poem is from a series based on the folklore  and epic narratives of Arunachal Pradesh. In the beginning men did not die. It was the great forefather Abo Tani, who in his wanderings encountered birds and animals weeping over the graves of their dead. The sounds of lamentation enchanted him. In some stories Abo Tani was prepared to learn burial rites in exchange for a jug of rice beer. The Coming of Death is a chapter title taken from  Myths of the North-East Frontier of India, Verrier Elwin, North East Frontier Agency, 1958.

 

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