I was young and playful
true to my sunny gardens
when they drew the veil on me.
Didn’t know when my stomach grew
when I birthed you it was all pain
I wanted to play with you,
to keep you secretly with my toys.
They called you shame,
put you in a wicker basket
with jewels and my dreams
and floated you away.
I had three more like you.
They rode my lap
in the day and the night as
my breasts wept for you.
I packed away my tears
as only warrior’s mothers do
and demanded your blood
for the milk that you never drew.
Mother – the word mocked me.
I stood on the banks of duty
steeped in meanness and greed.
I asked you to bleed my child,
and cupped my palms for more.
The bugle, the arrows,
the war, all walked
single file before me.
My other three
I caressed every night
as your blood drenched my heart
your unheard cries
rang in my ears
nightly I fed my brood.
Your hungry mouth
opened to me
all my love seemed untrue.
I have seen my lovers go
I have witnessed kingdoms go
I have seen my baby go
caught in the teeth of destiny
today I see my child’s blood flow.
I walk over dead bodies,
paddle over puddles of blood
I look for you, my warrior
to pull you out of the other world,
to hold you close to my heart
and wash your illegitimacy on my soul.
~Dr. Shruti Das
Brahmapur, Odisha, India
PATHOS- at its full description!
Horror – filled battlefield
Full of dead bodies
Strewn here and there
One was profusely bleeding
About to breathe his last.
Knowing him to be
The illegitimate child
Born to her ( Kunti ) and Surya the Sun God
Through invoking a prayer early
As per the boon
Offered by a sage
Kunti the unwed mother now laments
And offers her SOUL
To cleanse KARNA
Of his ILLEGITIMACY!