Journey Of A Small Boy Poem by Parameswaran Nair Damodaran Nair

Days when I paced along the narrow bunds
Raised across the stretches of paddy fields
All alone in synchrony with nature's moods
Amid stooping stalks of ripe golden paddy

Startled by the sudden surge of a playful breeze
A flock of parrots flew up with stalks of paddy,
Holding fast in each one's curved and red beak,
Stunning me by the beauty of the flying greenery

Mastery of their creator is amazingly flawless,
The unique thin circle in red colour around the necks
A gift of necklace He had presented is marvelous
They always wear it for the beauty that decks

Below, the stalks stood bowing to Mother Earth
In a reverential posture and a surrendering breath,
Like transcending Sanyasins in emotional Bhajan
They swayed in the melody of the ballad heard afar

Little sparrows were busy storing rice for off-season
In the newly made nests hung from coconut leaves
They cheerfully chirped and perched, sung and danced
I wished I were a sparrow to fly high and live in a nest

Frightened by a water snake slithered across
I stepped back fixing my eyes cautiously on it
Feeling, meanwhile, a toad being pressed under the feet
I loosened it entailing in my falling down to the mud

Far away the threshing women were singing in chorus
The reaping men around joined them to sing in rhyme and rhythm
The harvest songs sung in their traditionally popular tunes
Praising deities were a revival treat for the soul and the soil

In the clearances cows and calves were grazing gaily
Kids looking after them were playing games freely
I wished I could join them, but for my limitations
My heart lingered behind with them and I proceeded

At a distance yet to cover a potter couple appeared
Carrying head loads of large bamboo baskets heaped
With new pots arranged and secured by strong coir net
Humble were they to wait at the cross-bund till I passed

By dusk I reached home where grandma was anxious
I noticed the glow in her old eyes to see me safe back
She alone realized I was too small for such a hard journey
In the bed I could feel her silent sobs and solemn prayers

Next morning we talked on parrots and sparrows,
Water snakes and snake poison, eagles and jackals,
Potters and potter's wheel, dedication and devotion
Above all, love of God for the less cared and helpless

A poem by DPN