The Exile

for Prithwin first left downstroke start from the top plane out let the long anchor tip roof-line curve sharply upwards at the stern down-end pile it in stuffed in the centre leave the bottom open that’s where the studded boot rightly fits Over billowing transmuted waters the haze lifts now and then winds amber green waft and skim with the late light caught shimmering no albatross circles the mast guilt is pure guilt without wanton arrows there are no signs of land but the proffered hand the wanderer knows no words of his own Reach - disgorge with your nails Walls that concuss entrails Can he yet placate asylum echo the cluck of a poaching North American coot nestling amidst Eurasian breeding reeds taut bunching yarrow rushes an embattled haven against majestic swan ships sleek velvety rich drake peacockish barnacle goose come in early from the cold Let the dards of Orion spell syllables of ease through the congested smudge of yore contorted fantizi ideograms cursory calligraphic long dripping brush strokes pale to pinyin Simplified the exile gasps for instant phonemic breath under choppy waves of stuttering tongues racy blades extirpate langue crucify parole mix meaning into heady synaesthesiac brew loss of face is a loss of noodles develop equals hair Could René Char’s Zeit Geist have diagnosed the myna’s Kâla-Purusha Reach – disgorge with your nails Walls that concuss entrails Resources 1. This poem has to do with a Bengali translator’s first encounter with René Char at his residence The French poet questioned his translator on the meaning of “le dard d’Orion” in his poem: “Jeu muet”. The translator interpreted the phrase as having to do with astronomy and thus rendered it as “kâla Purusha” (Zeit Geist or literally as in Hindu mythology: the Primal Being at the beginning of time). René Char then picked a certain variety of the cactus flower in his garden and said that the French “phrase” applied to that particular flower. 2. The imagery in the poem also relates to the simplification of classical Chinese characters (fantizi) by the Peoples Republic of China in the early fifties and the alphabetisation of Chinese characters, known as “pinyin” as opposed to the Wade and Yale systems. The simplified characters produced certain semantic anomalies. ©T. Wignesan, Paris – May 3, 2009