In winter the dew was
No dampener for me,
Long before the sun
Even thought of rising,
I was up to sweep and
Water our front yard,
With a woollen shawl
Covering my head.
As I began my kolam
The piano opened up
From the third house
The elderly lady
Stirred memories of
My teacher playing
In the quiet chapel
Back in our hometown ---
The notes trotted along
With my lines as if they
Were dancing to them,
Who was drawing now?
The shape expanded
Seemingly on its own
And at one point
I was a bystander
With the music
And strokes flowing
Into one another ---
A duet at dawn
Of the heard and drawn
The coming and the gone
The timeless and its spawn.
