Poem | Aswin Vijayan

Photo Credit : Lee La

Appooppan Thadi


I leave her
and walk back
as the ferocious summer sun

seems to melt
the shiny black tar
under my feet

and I melt like wax -
beads of sweat
find its way down my forehead.

The shining white hair
on the tar
like a caged man

pulling at the chains
trying to break free
to lift itself into the air

and fly.

I remember,
once when we were together
and I held one of these fair

beauties of freedom
harsh,
crushing it

plucking the seed out
and how she scolded me
for plucking the purpose out

of a poor appoppan thadi.

Now I see men
and women
crushed

being plucked out of their purpose
between the fingers of everyday
grounded for what seems forever

while they were destined to float
to heights
to places

to where their seeds will plant dreams anew.

They are stuck
in the tar
and the heat

of everyday abstractions
of expectations
of impossibilities

and I see them wither.

I knew she was right
in more ways than one,
as she oft times is.