THE HUNGER BEHIND THE FESTIVAL— poem
(thanks to ChatGPT for helping me to translate my original Tamil Poem into English )
THE HUNGER BEHIND THE FESTIVAL
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Leaping, leaping,
knees drawn high,
the Silambam son
swirls his hands
in the dance of the staff.
Changing, changing,
with the antler’s tines,
the swift-fingered daughter
flings her hands
in a blur of speed.
Bounding, bounding,
the Karagam dances—
the mother of an art
that never lets
the pot slip from her head.
Beating, beating,
making the tharai tremble,
the father of Thappattam
thunders his drum
into the night.
Year after year,
though the earnings come,
the stomach
knows hunger
every single day.
— Nagendra Bharathi
My Poems/Stories/Articles in Tamil and English
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