It is
stillness now
LAXMI NARAYAN MAHAPATRA
It is stillness now,
the sea is mute, the earth falls dead.
the sky broods over the silent waves.
No scene can be seen;
the girdle slips to reveal
only seemings of things in a flux;
the forms change too fast
to catch the eye, but they are never caught
they vanish into limbo
leaving naught on the distant horizon.
It is stillness now;
wind speaks in low tone
in the wild woods;
in silent eyes
words flash forth
and fade to naught;
but in life’s ripples,
youth sports, limbs thick;
in silent lips speech forms
and the past love
silently moans.
Then clouds spread;
lightning frolicks creating fireworks
white, yellow and red,
then the dawn breaks
to show blooms smiling on stems
while the sun gleams;
the birds twitter but their voice is mute,
it is all stillness now;
silence grows acute.
(Translated from
Oriya by the poet)