CHAIR POETRY EVENINGS | KOLKATA'S INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
  • Home
  • Festival Editions
    • 2018
    • 2019
    • 2020
    • 2021
    • 2022
    • 2023
    • 2024
    • Chair Poetry Sangat International Poetry Festival 2024
  • Chair Poet in Residence Program
  • Chair Poetry Books
  • Media
    • Media 2018
    • Media 2019
  • About
  • Contact
  • Interviews
  • Visual Poetry
Picture

K Satchidanandan (India)

​ 
THE MAD
 
The mad have no caste
nor religion. They transcend
gender, live outside
ideologies. We do not deserve
their innocence.
 
Their language is not of dreams
but of another reality. Their love
is moonlight. It overflows
on the full moon day.
 
Looking up they see
gods we have never heard of. They are
shaking their wings when
we fancy they are
shrugging their shoulders. They hold
even flies have souls
and the green god of grasshoppers
leaps up on thin legs.
 
At times they see trees bleed, hear
lions roaring from the streets. At times
they watch Heaven gleaming
in a kitten’s eyes, just as
we do. But they alone can hear
ants sing in a chorus.
 
While patting the air
they are taming a cyclone
over the Mediterranean. With
their heavy tread, they stop
a volcano from erupting.
 
They have another measure
of time. Our century is
their second. Twenty seconds,
and they reach Christ; six more,
they are with the Buddha.
 
In a single day, they reach
the big bang at the beginning.
 
They go on walking restless for,
their earth is boiling still.
 
The mad are not
mad  like us.
 
1996
 
 

                                                             OUR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
All rights reserved 
​© 2024 Chair Literary Trust
The Chair Literary trust is registered as a non profit trust under the Government of India with Registration. no:
​ IV-0206-1000218111/2018
Picture

  • Home
  • Festival Editions
    • 2018
    • 2019
    • 2020
    • 2021
    • 2022
    • 2023
    • 2024
    • Chair Poetry Sangat International Poetry Festival 2024
  • Chair Poet in Residence Program
  • Chair Poetry Books
  • Media
    • Media 2018
    • Media 2019
  • About
  • Contact
  • Interviews
  • Visual Poetry