Theyyam Dreams
“So then, know this — ”
Vermilion smeared, and darkened kohl
His eyes bloodshot to match
In flourishing sword, and widened arc
He glares his blade at me
A terror within, stares out in wild
Each with the other, entwined
Cross-legged child, transfixed in time
Imprints an indelible sign
The glinting point, without a touch
Pierce deeply into the psyche
Awakens within, a primordial self
A fear that cuts through the vine
The soul exposed, a moment brief
Connected through point and hilt
The apparition lost, in rapturous trance
Branding the soul on life
Searing heat, within and without
The memory is burnt upon
The veil of life, that sheaths the soul
The memory, a tattoo in time
“So then, know this — ”
The dancer shakes, the trembling earth
Recalls the past in steps
That echo down, millennial trails
In masks of ancient lives
When gods so terrible, roamed the earth
And man would burrow deep
To scrounge the ground, his bountiful hunt
And legends would die to live
Their stories cast, in molds of time
Within that crucible, art —
The songs of those, that sang before
In songs, their stories borne
Of gods and men, and all betwixt
Of beasts and even stone
They ruled the earth, a life unchecked
Their death, a constant muse
By dying trees and enemies
They razed, the forest lands
And from the sea, they raised the bed
To slave a wretched life
“So then, know this — ”
The gods of earth, supplanted then
By gods of man and child
With songs so maimed, by love and choice
And men were gods from thence
And warriors came and warriors died
As so did kings and queens
And oft the land would bring to rise
The tales of heroes slain
Their stories told, in legends born
Their lives transposed from truth
Where gods and beasts and man alike
Transcends their living soul
The battle plains and fighting hills
Where gods and men did clash
Would fight for life, till bitter end
The gods that won did live
And plains and hills, and people thence
Would all become as one
Their songs would meld, their stories sung
Of bountiful fruits of loss
“So then, know this — ”
The eons passed, and chieftains fell
And new ones still arose
To claim the lands in wider swathes
While people blurred in praise
The watered lands and hilly slopes
Distanced from distant plains
The people drawn, by common tongue
Embraced a newer whole
Their ancient masks recast in time
From gods of yore and past
As dancers danced and singers sang
Their new age just begun
Four kingdoms grew upon that land
Each rising, one and all
As time marched on and minds congealed
Each clan, above them all
In peace they lived, then often fought
Till one war lost them all
Oppressed, enslaved, in impotence
Till freedom won them all
“So then, know this — ”
The father sits beside his son
Whispering into his ears
Transfixed the child in tightened fear
The words drowned out in time
Mesmerized, the dancer shakes
With sword and shield and skirt
Whirling as the drum beats roll
The heat, the dust, the smell
The singers drone, hypnotic
Builds up to crescendo
And for a moment, time is one
The past and present fused
The past of yore, and future now
Connected fore and aft
Within that child, synaptic charged
There forged a timeless bridge
Middle aged I dream, my thoughts
My final stanza blots
Afloat above dimension, paths
Through past and future now
©Unni Nambiar (December 29th 2018 — February 23rd 2019)
