Cheran Rudhramoorthy shared Tamil Information Centre's post.
2 hrs ·
Tamil Information Centre
21 hrs ·
On a stretch of sand along a city
washed away by the sea
a huge cross lay, fallen.
On top of it, a heron
whose long red legs were broken.
The waves had not yet washed away
tracks made by the iron chains
of heavy armoured vehicles.
Not a sign to tell
where the living had been.
Only, on a spreading palmyra tree
by the shore,
a torn sari, hanging.
Underground, I heard
children screaming.
Today the wind carries
no scent of the screwpine.
In my futile tears
only the raging fire
of a land denuded.
- 'A Stretch of Sand' [2009] by R. Cheran (translated by Lakshmi Holmström)
2 hrs ·
Tamil Information Centre
21 hrs ·
On a stretch of sand along a city
washed away by the sea
a huge cross lay, fallen.
On top of it, a heron
whose long red legs were broken.
The waves had not yet washed away
tracks made by the iron chains
of heavy armoured vehicles.
Not a sign to tell
where the living had been.
Only, on a spreading palmyra tree
by the shore,
a torn sari, hanging.
Underground, I heard
children screaming.
Today the wind carries
no scent of the screwpine.
In my futile tears
only the raging fire
of a land denuded.
- 'A Stretch of Sand' [2009] by R. Cheran (translated by Lakshmi Holmström)
