A Heat Beyond Endurance — poem
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(thanks to ChatGPT for helping me to translate my original Tamil Poem into English )
At dawn,
you were the one who asked
for hot water for your bath;
you were the one who wore
a freshly washed sari
while it was still warm from the iron;
you were the one who plucked
the steaming idli
with fingers quick as lightning;
you were the one who touched
the sacred flame
before the goddess
on Aadi Velli.
“Every heat I can endure
is a pleasure,”
you used to say.
You kissed my cheek,
winked at me,
waved your hand,
and set out—
never knowing
that another heat
was waiting for you.
You came home
like a bundle of firewood.
As the breath
left your body,
did you call for Amma?
Did you cry out,
calling and calling,
until your voice grew weary?
Oh, sinner that I am—
did the dead fire
of my fate
not leap upon you?
Will I ever leap
across that fire
and behold
my precious one again?
— Nagendra Bharathi
My Poems/Stories/Articles in Tamil and English
