A tribute to God’s own country, Kerala in short verses, inspired by the memories of our honeymoon almost 14 years back. This series of short poetic vignettes are part of the author’s book ‘Woman And Her Muse’ (Authorspress, 2016)
Kovalam
1.
Gentle flowers of honeymooning
Kovalam, the escapade, love gushing, maddening, insistent.
Lust for life, pervading.
2.
Roaring waves, sea-washed shores,
Breaths mingling, opening doors, salty tears.
Newlyweds, silent, soft whisperings.
3.
The language of love
Stumbling on savory romances, bitter heartbreaks.
A liquid realm of dreams.
4.
Temple prayers resound.
Silences, intertwined with clasped hands.
Padmanabhaswamy, amorous sculpture-gods.
5.
Show me how to float
In your foam. I’ll slip away in
My grimy memories.
6.
The shoreline beckons.
The sand beneath our feet,
The dirt road of our matrimony.
7.
Man and wife, entangling, disentangled.
Divinity of hearts in sync, devouring the
Rocky promontories, coconut groves.
Allepey
8.
A solemn promise, making love
Allepey, bride’s feet dipped in lush backwaters
Crescent moon, a houseboat.
9.
Old piers extend into sea.
Yellow flowers dangling in bridal hair
Kissed by ardent beau.
10.
Shankuamugham, the breeze grows wild
“Enchantress”, her human lover calls her.
A beach love, solidified.
11.
Fishermen set out, the morning sea
A medley of wants, ephemeral, speeding past
Imposing sojourners.
12.
The city, tangled beads
Of humans, temples, marketplaces, miracles.
‘My cup runneth over.’
13.
Shimmering waterways, sailing obstructed,
Rainfall, spilling over a quaint houseboat
my vermilion rains.
Vembanad Lake on the Alleppey side
14.
The palm fringed narrow canal
Saw us enraptured, flowing in the cosmos,
Migrating bird bodies fluttered.
15.
Kumarakam, a new bride dancing
Tranquility, a momentary luxury, finds its closure.
We return, poetry obliterates.
Notes
* Kovalam: A beach and coastal town in the southern state of Kerala, India, a prime destination for tourists. Kovalam means a grove of coconut trees.
* Padmanabhaswamy: A south-Indian temple located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, named after Lord Vishnu.
* Alleppey: A tourist site in Kerala, best known for houseboat cruises along the rustic Kerala backwaters, a network of tranquil canals and lagoons.
* Shankumugham: Another tranquil beach in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
* Alappuzha: Another name for Allepey, the backwater destination
* Kumarakam: An island and a bird sanctuary in the city of Kottayam, Kerala.
Lopamudra (Lopa) Banerjee is an author, editor, poet and writing instructor staying in Dallas, Texas with her family, but originally from Kolkata, India. She has a Masters in English with thesis in Creative Nonfiction from University of Nebraska and also Masters in English from University of Calcutta, India. Apart from writing and editing some critically acclaimed books and being awarded with the Reuel International Prize for Poetry (2017) and for Translation (2016), she has dabbled in all genres of writing, from journalism and content writing to academic essays and fiction/poetry. She has been interviewed in various e-zines, literary blogs and also at TV (Kolkata) and at radio stations in Dallas, Texas. Very recently, she has been part of the upcoming short film 'Kolkata Cocktail', a docu-feature based on poetry, but her love for writing feature stories go back to her journalism days when she interviewed people from all walks of life and wrote essays and articles based on them. She loves performing poetry as spoken words art and has performed in various forums in India and USA.
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