19th may, 2010
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killinochchi town getting ready…
may 2010
19th may. you have nothing
to say? i can only
falteringly
mouth, nothing of ….
nothing begets nothing, a king says, and
launches a war
against garrulous daughters and sulking ones;
and i think of an
other daughter, too too loud or too soft,
of other wars and other deaths, slipped between
a pillow and its case, a letter, a bomb, a whisper, slipped
between the familiar and the family, the nation and its engender.
on 19th may, 1991, sivaramani,
took her own positive life, her cry strangled
with that strenuous cord, blazing a trail of blood
of the nation and its many stories;
300, 000 slipped between
a miserable soul-dead wretch, who
would not take his life and the dark
of a storm shelling sky, a black and blue sea,
dotted with doom, a king
without daughters striking those
‘[trojans =delete] crushed between sea and sky’,
a tale slipped between waiting and waking,
an impossible 30-years;
18 years later.
*sivaramani the poet committed suicide in 1991, after burning to cinders much of her poetry, a few days before dhanu detonated herself to annihilate rajiv gandhi. though translated much and celebrated as an activist and a woman poet, the significance of her incisive and multi faceted critique of the nation is rarely spoken of.
Dear Dr.Sivamohan
Great piece of poetry! well done! I remember listening to Sivaramani’s poetry on the 20th death anniversary commemoration ceremony of Rajani Thiranagama. If someone can publish Sivaramani’s poetry either on a website, it will be great!
I can only hope that all Sivaramanis of today, will live long and we get to enjoy their poetry.
They tear off
The wings of insects
Make guns
From sticks and logs
And kill friends
Imagining them enemies
I think she really wished, that we stop playing games.
Banking on Solutions, A real-time evaluation of UNHCR’s shelter grant programme for returning displaced people in Northern Sri Lanka, March 2010:
”Movement along the A9 is also still restricted for international NGOs and UN agencies. ”
The refugees and resettled Lanka’s nowhere people, Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times 17 March 2010:
‘’On the stretch of the A9 highway between Vavuniya and Jaffna, hundreds of released IDP families have put up flimsy tents or taken shelter in broken houses. After months in camps, they now have the freedom of movement. But little else.”
How about writing the words “IMF” and “China” on the Lion flag… that’s the future of S. Lanka. Never-ending bailouts and servitude to mighty China, the new emperor of the East.
IDPs are denied rations of food.
Then why rows and rows of flags?
Socialism or Buddhism?
Dr.Sivamohan,
thanks for remembering her on her death anniversary.
if i remember correctly,she said,
” i have destroyed all my identities
as long as my hands could extend.
if there is a help remaining
for you to do is
destroying all the rest”
but contradicting her wishes we carry her in our minds.
where can i find the translations of Sivaramani poems?
seeking to connect with your suffering
I turned to this post
so few words
and so much meaning …
how can we read some more
of her labour of love?
Thanks to all those who found some meaning in the poem.
About Sivaramani’s poetry: I have done some translations, and am continuing to do so. Hopefully we can get a publication out. There are other translations out there. But, of course, obviously I like mine more.
For me, Sivaramani’s death, and those of so many others, and the suffering brought on by the long years of war are inextricably linked together.
And as we write on reconciliation, progress, development, and most importantly, that cherished or abhorred word, nation, we need to sit down and reflect on what exactly is the meaning of this suffering, these deaths and these lives.
Maybe working through Sivaramani’s poetry and Selvi’s and other people’s, their voices as theory, and not just as expressive and personal writings, would give us something to reflect on. Also, they may tell us about what questions we need to ask today. In some ways, that’s why I write poetry; ask questions about where we stand today.