a poem of varavara rao
Posted by parisar on September 7, 2006
NO CLASSES TOMORROW
Those kids helplessly stand
At the zebra crossing on the road
Hurry to hang on to mom’s neck fills their eyes
Weight of homework on the back pulls down the neck
Hair like fallen petals of withered flowers
Uniforms that drain all the colors in the face
Shoe that stop the mercuric feet running before time
Those kids are like listless vision of
The fallen stars amidst the urban forest
Vehicles stop only for red signal
But not for the kids
The hands that turn the wheel
That manage the handle and apply brakes
All the hands otherwise embrace those kids
But now no one looks at them
I waved my hand at them with affection
They looked at my hand strangely
As if thinking
What is this melody amidst this din?
Recognized the smile from within the police van
They sniffed a message in
My raised fist with heavy handcuff
“Tomorrow there won’t be any classes”
As they cross the road noisily and excited
The vehicles stopped like
Stones in the stream
They still run with wild joy without looking back
***
February 5, 1988
Translated by N Venugopal link:http://www.geocities.com/varavara_rao/home.html
