conviction

"People would say, well what do you think, Audre, What happened to you yesterday? And I would recite a poem and somewhere in that poem would be a line or a feeling I would be sharing" - Audre Lorde

For every situation 

there is a Tamil song,  

that is my firm conviction.

Say you are discussing arranging

for a cow to grace Serangoon road 

for Ponngal.

I'd sing to you 

"Maatukara vela 

un maata konjam pathukada"

Hey cowherd Vela,

look after your cow well 

or when the clouds turn dark,

"Megan karukudhu, 

Mazhai vara paarkudhu 

Veesi adikudhu kaathu,

Kaathu, mazha kaathu"

Dark clouds gather 

a storm is coming

the wind is blowing 

the wind that heralds the rain

its blowing 

or when I see a scene of breathtaking beauty, like a waterfall, a deep green forest, 

"Enna azhagu ethanai azhagu

Kodi malar kottiya azhagu"

What beauty, how much beauty,

the beauty of ten thousand flowers strewn before me

For almost every occasion,

grand or mundane 

a Tamil song exists

snazzy, jazzy, or lilting

in a melodious strain.

#jemstones #spwm23 #spwm23day11 #conviction #bonus1 #wipe #opentocrit