Someone Else’s Song
Kamala Das 1934 (Kamala Punnayurkulam, Madras Presidency) – 2009 (Pune, Maharashtra)
I am a million, million people
Talking all at once, with voices
Raised in clamour, like maids
At village-wells.
I am a million, million deaths
Pox-clustered, each a drying seed
Someday to be shed, to grow for
Someone else, a memory.
I am a million, million births
Flushed with triumphant blood, each a growing
Thing that thrusts its long-nailed hands
To scar the hollow air.
I am a million, million silences
Strung like crystal beads
Onto someone else’s
Song.
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Submitted by JP03 on August 05, 2015
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 23 sec read
- 4,049 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXX XXXX XXXX AXAX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 446 |
Words | 79 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Someone Else’s Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/43985/someone-else’s-song>.
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