MY SOUL

Like a warm hand
on my weary shoulder
you came close to me .

In a dreamless night
you became a balmy poem.
For days sans a wrap
you have given a shape.
Shielding a heroic poet
you infused inspiration , imagination.
On a wounded body
you landed as a bird with healing touch .
Like spring that courted the earth
You are a multi- splendoured smile.
You became a butterfly
far beyond evolutionary dynamics.

You are the pollen of life with an amazing fusion of feelings on observing --- thorny plants, Caltrops, leeches that drained my blood in Nallavagu , nuances of songs composed on machans , tasty reeds and swinging ears of jowar corn .

For a sharpened chisel like me
you are an abiding aspiration.
During the nights I slept
you softly spread as tender youth .
Across contemplative tamarind tree
you are my sap green future
painted by nature .

You are my soul who
showed me what I am
placing me before a mirror.

You are a loving lightning
seen in the wrinkles of my mother's face .
Like my father's humming tune
ringing in ears,
you glided into my inner core.

So much compassion
So much love
So much warmth you shower!

The moment you stepped
into threshold of my life
stretching your right foot
I shuddered with a singular self-confidence.

With the sense you lent
to dreams blooming in my heart
I have become a poet !

[Translated from Telugu by T.S.Chandra Mouli & B.B.Sarojini from the volume Sarihaddurekha , 2002,poem titled KuDi Kaalu,p-14-15]