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Nauru ~ A Haibun
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| Posted by Shyam Santhanam Fri, Sep 8th 2006, 19:13 :: English | |||
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the frigate perch ~ the ocean rolls along an audible breeze I dream of a home. Not the home where I sleep now to dream, but another distant, distant home. An island home as remote as a memory. An island I only barely remember as distant recollections - as the warmth of a wave of nostalgia once it has passed. These shadowy and elusive memories. As elusive to recall as say, the forms of a full moon's blemishes. When an artist paints such a moon purely from recall, surely the exact form is contrived from mental impressions. On this Island of my memory, I grew a little older. I was a shy and imaginative child. I struggled to express myself, and mostly assumed it would never matter if I could. In silent stares, I remember even now being carried away totally overwhelmed, into seas of wordless thoughts by the raw sentience of some moments. Though I can barely remember those thoughts themselves, the perceptions of each moment that I can recall, glow firmly set like jewels. These moments are my only recollection of this Island of my youth. Like the sea on full tide in the afternoon. Like the pleasant afternoons spent walking barefoot in the sand, under a vast endearing sky. A moist sun gazing down brilliant and satiated. The ocean roaring and heaving its restless tide. The energy of the water's surface - its continuously changing relief. The surf rolling down tiredly at squint distance, where I was told the ocean floor dropped dead-suddenly to thousands of feet. The magnitude of this volume of the water, I pictured in my quiet exhaustion. Endless water everywhere - I imagined drowning. Water suspending my soundless wrestling limbs. Water, a torrential depth, over my head. Water in my wide open eyes. Warm saline water on my skin on my tongue. Water everywhere. And a rippled sun high up at the surface, casting down slow magnificent beams. A frigate's quiet oblivious flight overhead... Its shivering feathers perked up as it lands and perches from a current... ----------------- Notes: Nauru - a small republic Island situated in the Central Pacific Ocean, 40km south of the equator and frighteningly remote, being 300km from the nearest land mass and over 1000km from Australia. It is a mere 22km across and is sustained cheifly by a local phosphate mining industry. The entire island is said to have formed from fossilized bird-droppings, or Guano. This is the source of their rich and pure phosphate reserve, which is fast dwindling today, and will soon leave the country in a dire financial crisis. Recent media interest has discovered the possibility of tourism as a source of future revenue, and reveals the Islands interesting cultural heritage and breath-taking natural beauty. Frigate - A large ocean bird, resembling an eagle found in the South Pacific. Nauruan islanders specially constructed T-shaped perches at the sea-side for these birds, perhaps just to allow their majestic presence to be enjoyed. A Haibun is a Japanese poetic essay, illustrating or complementing a Haiku. The Japanese Haiku master, Matsuo Basho, wrote several brilliant ones. (Great thanks to Narayanan Raghunathan for suggesting I try my hand at this). |
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| An earlier haibun (circa 2001) | |||