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ஞாபகத் தடங்கள் / Memory Lanes by M. Segar

 

ஞாபகத் தடங்கள்
எம். சேகர்


ஆகாச வெளியில்
மூச்சிறைத்த சுவாசம்
நிலாவெளி நிழலின்
நீட்சியாய்
கடல் அலைகளில் முத்துக்கள்
வெள்ளிநிற கோலங்களாய்
மிதக்க

மேகங்கள்
குளிர்முகமாய்க் காத்திருக்க
கருநீல நீள்சேலையாய்
வானம் குடை விரித்திருக்க

மெல்லிய மணல்தடத்தில்
பாதங்கள் பதியப் பதிய
ஈரத்தின் வாசம்
உள்ளுக்குள் புகுந்து
ஞாபகத் தடங்களை
மெல்ல மெல்ல மீட்டெடுக்க

கால்கள்
யாரோ முன்பு வைத்துவிட்டுப்போன
செருப்புக்குள்
நுழைந்துகொள்கின்றன

Memory Lanes
Written by M. Segar
Translated by Sulosana Karthigasu

Beneath the vast wide sky
As moon’s shadows
Stretch far and wide
Glittering like silver pearls
Upon the bobbing waves

As clouds drift
Calmly and serenely
The sky swirls and expands
Like a deep blue saree

As feet sink
Into the soft wet sand
the spray’s mist
gently stirs memories past

Bare feet
Slide into slippers
Abandoned long ago
By a soul unknown


Segar S/O Muniandy (author, poet, academic) has a Master of Education (NTU-NIE) and has been writing since 1981. He has over 200 short stories and hundreds of poems published in Singapore, Malaysia, India and global newspapers, magazines and e-magazines. He published 3 anthologies of short stories, 4 collections of poems and 3 non-fiction books. His poetry collection Kaivilakku Kadavul was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2016. His non-fiction book Eluttum Enaamum (Words and Thoughts) was shortlisted for the SLP in 2018, and his poetry collection Ravananin Seethai won a commendation in the same year. He is also the winner of the Karikala Chola International Award for 2020.

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.


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