Birth

This poem (if it can be called a poem) was written by me in 1983. Conceptualized during one of those long waits in a hospital.

BIRTH

A big-bellied woman
Passed the hospital gates
In a hurried state
The husband penned
Registration
Complacent and cool
Then hysterical
The pains unbearable
Every passing second
Spectacled eyes
Gloved hands
Directed her
Between all commotion
She released it
The first ray of light
It faced
And dared to live
It cried
All overjoyed
From mere cells
To a being

-sundari giri