They walked on
as if reciting some cosmic
postscripts in anguish
Paramu waved his hands
from behind attempting
to catch some thing from the air
in vain
Then the hands retreated
and went behind once again
Vasu’s hands were moving
in cautious slow motion
akin to that of a fat reptile
but he was not sure how to keep
his hands down
Because it was his hands
that had always helped him to
erase his agonies
It was those hands
which steadied him in troubles
Whenever he faltered
he managed to maintain his course
by waving his hands aimlessly
into ages
When Ravi waved backward
with spread fingers it was like rowing
The movement of his hands appeared as if
he was cuddling his appetite for mating with death
Alternatively entwining
the hands in the front and back
he stood at times probing
his immeasurable self
Krishnan waved both his right
and left hands back and forth
giving them vain
hopes of reconciliation
Though they swayed
like trapeze artists they had to retreat
as they filed to get the grip
All the four-Paramu, Vasu, Ravi and Krishnan-
were walking at the same speed
Their hands strolled into separate worlds
For Paramu, his hands supplied
the gadgets to cleanse
the blemish of his sins
It was those hands that
always lighted his pathway
Vasu’s hands were in a frenzied
quiver shivering like an epileptic
For Ravi , his hands
were an stranger woman
always numb as if they knew nothing
Like contented accomplices
returning after a successful robbery
Krishnan’s hands were looking again
for weapons in the void
They turned into a deserted
isle craving for freedom
and free will to kill
All the three were walking
absolutely insensitive
to the movement of their hands
even as the hands were waiting for
the earliest chance
to encircle them unawares
trans: saj mathews
