Poetry at Sangam
Poetry at Sangam showcases poetry in English and translations as well as essays on poetics and news of new releases.
If I were a1 leaf2
awakening my flower would not be as easy 4,5,6
for me, as feeding my worm.3
1) The sounds, /k/, /n/, /s/, /t/ add gravity to the word ‘constitution’ and hence I used it; that’s all. This footnote may suit many other constitutions too.
2) When I say ‘I’, it means just me; it doesn’t mean the entire citizenry of this country; it doesn’t mean my generation; it doesn’t mean those who are like me in gender, status, religious belief, character, occupation, or place of residence. It doesn’t even mean me who desires liberty, equality, fraternity, dignity or justice. It means me who adopts, enacts, gives unto myself and abides by it. Merely me.
3) Mea worm, mea worm, mea maxima worm. When you read the poem, there is no need to look for non-existent multiple meanings. Not only that, it is good to give up such habits too. In fact, the dharma of footnotes is not to elucidate the true meaning, but to preclude the possibilities of false and/or fake interpretations.
4) My flower means the flower that blossoms, withers and falls as one, as many or in bunches, one with me. The one that decays and merges with soil. It does not symbolise beauty, hope or even impermanence. Just a flower.
5) There are many topics to think about, such as my caste, my tree, the juice that runs through my veins, the sap that flows when cut, the thorn that will pierce me no matter how it falls, my clan. I am not getting into those for fear of being verbose. Just for the fear of being verbose.
6) Or perhaps I were not a leaf. Even then, awakening my flower would not be as easy for me as feeding my worm.
NOTE
Translated from the original, ‘Bharanakhatanaykku oru adikuruppu’.
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