Vasantha Surya

Vasantha Surya’s published work includes investigative articles, features, and reviews, four translations of outstanding Tamil novels and a collection of Tamil short fiction. She writes stories for children, has edited books on yoga, and published three books of poetry. Of her poems, the scholar-poet and translator A.K.Ramanujan has said:

“…witty, critical, yet aware of traditions and capable of strong feeling…(her) poems balance, complement, and enrich each other, unified by a voice and a careful craft I value…”

Excerpts from her poems in English:

1.

from

The Need for Poetry

“…To stop your nose

against the stink of poets’ truths

is to refuse to feel, or think,

or grow.

Their crazy ooze of thoughts and images

is a manure

without which a mature consciousness

can neither come to flower

or go to seed…

And so, in the sober realization

of poetry’s undoubted utility,

we now announce:

Hey everybody! Write poetry!

Let it all hang out!

But how permissive can we be?

Must we fake oohs and aahs

when kavirajas strut on the catwalk

with nothing on but smirks?

Should we suppress our yawns

when versifiers hem and haw

about nothing in particular?

…Must we give some glib wordsmith credit

for having tapped into primordial wellsprings,

when all he’s done is mop up a drop

seeping from the surface of things?

“Won’t someone tune us to that perfect pitch

for which our poor synthesizing souls scream?

…For we still yearn to celebrate the body’s high tide

To somehow learn to take its ebbing in our stride…”

2.

from

To Touch the Ocean’s Lip

“…is enough for some. One drop of salt

warmed by the sand

is all that they can stand. They plan

their episodes of passion,

leave their slippers within sight,

tuck up their clothes,

take a cautious dip…”

3.

from

First Aid

“…To probe just now will kill.

Safer, kinder, to wind sound

around the wound, a rag

of syllables as clean as you can find,

softly to bind, if necessary

firmly to gag

the screaming crimson grief,

to give relief, until….”

4.

from

Quick Fix

Hang my picture on your wall.

That’s all you have to do.

I’ll do the rest.

I know what’s best

For you...

…I’ll pest-control your mind, and fumigate

Its every cubbyhole and shelf.

Don’t hesitate….”