UNEARTHLY
SMELL
Prof. S. RENGACHARI
In the stillness of the cool night
When soft breeze blew
over the silvery surface of the lake
dancing gently in the moonlight
a sweet smell wafted in the wind
a smell that seemed alien to the land,
that seemed disturbing
and pleasing at once,
that filled and thrilled my being,
the lonely being sitting on the bank,
gazing at distant shores.
It is the fragrance exuding
my divine mother’s divine love
the fragrance which I had felt and known
as a child in the dim past,
quickening the autumnal leaves
of buried memories,
the whole world dissolved into euphoria.
As a patch of cloud gulped the moon,
the smell melted into the glimmering darkness,
leaving me panting hard in bewilderment.