SELF
My mother didn’t believe
when, in 1945, I appeared to her
in a dream and told her
I would be born to her the following year.
My father recognised me
as soon as he saw
the mole below my left thumb.
But mother believed to the very end
that someone else had been born to her
masquerading as me.
Father and I pleaded with her,
but dreams are not reliable witnesses.
She went on waiting for that
promised son till she died
Only when she was reborn as my daughter
did she admit it had really been me.
But by then I had begun to doubt:
it was someone else’s heart
beating within my body.
One day I will retrieve my heart;
my language too.
when, in 1945, I appeared to her
in a dream and told her
I would be born to her the following year.
My father recognised me
as soon as he saw
the mole below my left thumb.
But mother believed to the very end
that someone else had been born to her
masquerading as me.
Father and I pleaded with her,
but dreams are not reliable witnesses.
She went on waiting for that
promised son till she died
Only when she was reborn as my daughter
did she admit it had really been me.
But by then I had begun to doubt:
it was someone else’s heart
beating within my body.
One day I will retrieve my heart;
my language too.
- K Satchidanandan
From: While I Write: New And Selected Poems
Thank you for sharing such lovely poetry sp. I feel I haven't gone out looking for it in a long time now. You are helping my laziness and lust for new non academic reading. Can we have something written by you as well, a poem or something else?
ReplyDeleteOne blog post coming up. I don't think I've managed a poem since high school.
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have you back Tilpu