Oru nurungu
Chembarathiyila enna
thechu kulichu,
thumpapoo chorum undu
mavinchottil, ammayariyathedutha
mudanja-
olakal kondundakkiya
kottarathil
aa odinja kaserayaya
simhasanathil
irrunna
chithrashalabhamam kuttikkalavum,
venalmazha pole
vannupoya nombarangalum;
njanayi mariyathano
nirangalum, vakkukalum
koottayivannathu?
An elfin
muse.
The shower, with a
little shoe-flower-leaves' oil,
a lunch with those thumpapoo
flowers,
and when mom didn't see, stealthily,
the castle that we
made with braided
coconut leaves, under
the mango tree,
and the throne of that
broken chair;
is it the butterfly
like childhood
and the occasional summer-rain
like sorrows,
that is, eventually
the ‘me’ and the colors,
the words that
befriended me?
This was something written for the foreign tongue prompt from dVerse. I was late. The first one is in MY OWN MALAYALAM, and my first attempt too. Hope the translation may do justice. Linking it with open link night.
Thumpapoo - Leuca indica flowers.
smiles...really cool flow to this....and some fun turns as well....cool to read your malay words as well...the butterfly like childhood...ha, yes that...smiles.
ReplyDeleteSreeja, I enjoyed so very much reading the words in your language. All of them are such loonnnngggg words I find myself wondering if children have a lot of difficulty with spelling (smiles). I liked your translation too and picturing the mango tree and the coconut leaves! Nice.
ReplyDeleteThe English translation is surely mesmerizing !!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE! Imagination grows! But I can not appreciate the language/translation because I do not know. How I would love to hear the sound!
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincident, today even I tried to write in English and Hindi simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteIts beautiful like childhood dreams!
a castle made with braided coconut leaves..how cool is that...nice...and the MALAYALAM is way cool...
ReplyDeletelike the Malayalam one :)
ReplyDeleteif u have time check my Malayalam blog : http://jidhusdiary.blogspot.com/
How beautiful...the wonderful memories of being a child and all its possibilities!
ReplyDeletethe castle that we made with braided
ReplyDeletecoconut leaves, under the mango tree,
Lovely! and the Malayalam words are so long! Would love to hear it read. :)
I love reading the words in your own language although I had no clue as to what it said until I read the translation. "the words that befriended me" I really like that. It describes a relationship with language...beautiful.
ReplyDeletethis is great. I love how the Malayalam adds an extra rhythm to the words. I find myself going back and forth between the translation and the original and am floored how cool the Malayalam sounds. So glad you posted this. THanks
ReplyDelete"the words that befriended me"
ReplyDeletewhat better could happen to a poet? lovely, sreeja!
♥