Two Rainbows
Nidadavolu Malathi
“Mom, mom, look what I found.”
My daughter displays ecstatically
The brass figurines
She dug from the cardboard boxes in the basement.
Grandma’s collection,
Meant for bommala koluvu[1] during Dasara festivities.
She likes, wants them
Oh, no room in the suitcase.
“I can mail ‘em,” I assure her.
I Feel the glow in her face,
Start polishing the figurines.
The peacock is crooked.
Bend it a bit, I think - a bad move.
The base is broken.
The peacock has fallen.
Crushed and frantic,
I search for a welder,
Run around like the headless chicken
Yet find no savior of my figurine.
Sad, sad, sad, I moan.
Bad, bad things happen always, I groan.
Back in my living room,
Slouching in the couch,
Feeling bad, bad, and more bad.
Look out the window.
WOW! AWESOME!
A Gorgeous view of a work of art!
Courtesy of Mother Nature.
A breathtaking view in my window
The window framing a gorgeous Rainbow.
Never seen such a gorgeous scene ever!
A Rainbow, end to end,
Two tips rooted deep in to the ground,
A complete semi-circle,
Like one half of a melon precisely cut
Too perfect, too large for my point ‘n shoot gadget.
I jump to the patio door
There! A second rainbow
Rising on the left,
Running parallel to the first
Like an expert dancer holding abhayamudra, a calming gesture,
The pictures I hold up to you
Are no match to the rainbows framed by the window.
Please, please, I urge you to
Call on your wildest imagination,
Call on all your senses
And envision the stunning view
In my window.
(Original date. June 19, 2010.)
[1] Arrangement of dolls and thematic settings as part of Dasara festivities, which occurs in October
or November.
Nidadavolu Malathi
“Mom, mom, look what I found.”
My daughter displays ecstatically
The brass figurines
She dug from the cardboard boxes in the basement.
Grandma’s collection,
Meant for bommala koluvu[1] during Dasara festivities.
She likes, wants them
Oh, no room in the suitcase.
“I can mail ‘em,” I assure her.
I Feel the glow in her face,
Start polishing the figurines.
The peacock is crooked.
Bend it a bit, I think - a bad move.
The base is broken.
The peacock has fallen.
Crushed and frantic,
I search for a welder,
Run around like the headless chicken
Yet find no savior of my figurine.
Sad, sad, sad, I moan.
Bad, bad things happen always, I groan.
Back in my living room,
Slouching in the couch,
Feeling bad, bad, and more bad.
Look out the window.
WOW! AWESOME!
A Gorgeous view of a work of art!
Courtesy of Mother Nature.
A breathtaking view in my window
The window framing a gorgeous Rainbow.
Never seen such a gorgeous scene ever!
A Rainbow, end to end,
Two tips rooted deep in to the ground,
A complete semi-circle,
Like one half of a melon precisely cut
Too perfect, too large for my point ‘n shoot gadget.
I jump to the patio door
There! A second rainbow
Rising on the left,
Running parallel to the first
Like an expert dancer holding abhayamudra, a calming gesture,
The pictures I hold up to you
Are no match to the rainbows framed by the window.
Please, please, I urge you to
Call on your wildest imagination,
Call on all your senses
And envision the stunning view
In my window.
(Original date. June 19, 2010.)
[1] Arrangement of dolls and thematic settings as part of Dasara festivities, which occurs in October
or November.
