“Homeless Seed,” An Ecofeminist Poem by Dr. Dipak Giri from India

Homeless Seed

A Poem by Dr. Dipak Giri 

 

I

Now in forest, now in mead,

now in alley, now in street,

you’re homeless and out of clan

without any goal and of plan.

 

As exposed to sick and thinny,

you no longer been thick and juicy.

Once you been with life and bliss

which now you seems soon to cease.

 

As a solitary boat adrift alone,

so, in land or air, you all alone.

Ever and anon, in gush of gale,

in force and motion, you spin and sail.

 

As a stray boat on billowy surf;

as a lost colt on yellowy turf,

so you, orphan and willow-wild,

lonely and forlorn, a motherless child.

 

Over loss and stray as a boat concerns

until safely it shoreward returns,

so, in woes and worries, you count your days,

and eagerly waiting for the turn of events…

 

II

 

Ere you long realize “Where are you?”,

all of a sudden and out of blue,

the crust splits and embraces you

where you lie dormant and out of view.

 

As balmy drops on a parched petal

to its former self resettle,

so heart throbs and sense pursues

and you feel the pulse and life renews.

 

As, to the shrieks and cry of Siya¹

who is the queen of Saketa²,

Mother Earth responds and takes her in,

so, you taken, as if her kith and kin.

 

Now you’re an object of great care

like all other things, big or mere,

to the Mother of all mothers,

who, in all her waking hours,

always and forever, in all weathers,

foul or fair, soothes and nurtures.

 

Notes:

1. Siya, also known as Sita, Janaki and Maithili, is a Hindu Goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana. She was adopted by King Janaka and led most of her life in trouble and homelessness after her marriage with Rama until she is given refuge by her mother the Earth, “the mother of all mothers”.
2. Saketa is also known as Ayodhya, a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river (Now in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Siya (popularly known as Sita) becomes the queen of Saketa after her marriage with Rama, the male protagonist and the Hindu God of the great epic Ramayana.

 

Bio of the Poet: Dr. Dipak Giri is an eminent Indian writer, editor and critic from Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Creative Flight, a literary journal of international repute which publishes both academic and creative writings bi-annually.  He has twenty books to his credit. As a poet, he has already published few poems on gender and feminism in Creative Flight.  He is currently working as an Assistant Teacher in Katamari High School (H.S.), an Academic Counsellor in Netaji Subhas Open University (Cooch Behar College Study Centre) and an Invitee Faculty (PG) in Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University (Cooch Behar College Study Centre), West Bengal, India. To know him more, one can visit him at https://www.dipakgiri.com/