THE SAPLING
SHANMUGA
SUBBIAH
Did
you see the sapling
in the shade?
Did
you?
Did
you see the struggle
To rear its head towards the sun?
Did
you?
And
after that
O
why do you go
in search of shade?
O,
why do you go?
The
sapling in the shade
never grows well;
Even
if it does
it’d never grow straight.
And
it won’t have a gleam of grace.
So
you do grow in the sunshine,
and having grown do give
sweet shade.
–Translated from the original Tamil by M.
S. RAMASWAMI