English

Ainkurunuru 121ÔÇô124, 127ÔÇô128

(1)

O yes, we've seen
your girl friend,
haven't we?

Splashing in the sea waves,
wetting even that wreath of water-thorn
in her hair?

(2)

O yes, we've seen
your girl friend,
haven't we?

Her gold ornaments fall
in the sand,
and all she does is ask

Narrinai 183

As they carry the white paddy of their land
to barter it for the salt of another,
crossing the long roads in carts
through sands white as moonlight,
taking whole families
who hate to be left behind,

the exodus of the salt merchants
leaves a city empty.

Seashore man,
you must be dense indeed:

what with the nasty cold wind
blowing through everything

Narrinai 63

On the new sand
where fishermen,
their big nets
ripped apart by an angry sea,
dry their great hauls of fish

in a humming neighborhood
of meat smells,

a laurel tree blossoms
all at once in bright clusters
fragrant as a festival,

but this unfair town
is noisy with gossip.

And what with an unfair Mother too
keeping strict watch over us,

will our love just perish here

Ainkurunuru, 142ÔÇô145

Our man of the seashore
where the waves reach
and shake the big branches
of the small-leaved tigerclaw tree

has cleared once for all
the pallor of our lovesick girl.

Ainkurunuru 113

Yesterday,
some people of this town
said about me,
she is the woman
of that man from the seashore

where great waves break
on the white sands.

Mother heard it
and asked me,
" Is that true? "
I said, under my breath,
" I'm burning. "

Ainkurunuru 192, 193, 197

My love whose bangles
glitter, jingle,
as she chases crabs,

suddenly stands shy,
head lowered,
hair hiding her face:

but only till the misery of evening
passes, when she'll give me
the full pleasure

of her breasts.

Narrinai 172

Playing with friends one time
we pressed a ripe seed
into the white sand
and forgot about it
till it sprouted

and when we nursed it tenderly
pouring sweet milk with melted butter,
Mother said,
" It qualifies
as a sister to you, and it's much better
than you, "
praising this laurel tree.

So
we're embarrassed
to laugh with you here

O man of the seashore
with glittering waters

Ainkurunuru 186

O man of the seashore

where old women
dry their wet streaming hair
and look like a flock
of herons in the boy,

when people said,
a chariot comes here often
splattering
the dark neytal lilies
near the bubbling backwaters,

Mother said at once,
" Don't go out. "

Kuruntokai 399

Like moss on water
in the town's water tank:

the body's pallor
clears

as my lover touches
and touches,

and spreads again,

as he lets go,

as he lets go.

Kuruntokai 244

Sir,
not that we did not hear the noise
you made trying to open the bolted doors,
a robust bull elephant
stirring in the night
of everyone's sleep;

we did. But as we fluttered inside
like a peacock in the net,
crest broken, tail feathers flying,

our good mother held us close
in her innocence
thinking to quell our fears.