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AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS & WRITERS FOR PEACE
A SCROLL FOR PEACE by Prithvindra Chakravarti

[Above] Photo of Prithvindra Chakravarti by Dr Steve Winduo, 2002.

Prithvindra Chakravarti


A SCROLL FOR PEACE

Those not shivering a bit

In the bizarre biting blizzard

On the treacherous trail

To the cliff top tower

Had their fettered feet

Freed forever

Cords snapped off

From their anchors

+

Those not stumbling

On the steep slippery rocks

Had their rib cages

Ballooned to pull them up

Arms fondly hugging

Deep warm breath

Of their life long mates

Left behind on the steps

+

Those not looking back

Over the trodden slopes

Down the terrain

Had their gaze fixed

On the tower's dome

Gracing the summit

To keep their burning quest

Pinned to their bosoms.

+

Those not resonating

Their favourite chants

Had their vibrant lines

Neatly embroidered

With hooked needles

On spreads of silk

Tucked into their

Wriggling spines

+

The words were steaming hot

To wake up mummies

From their eon long

Mouldy slumber

The maze of colours

Beaming dazzling plumes

Of dancing peacocks

Before their glassy eyes

+

Cascading down a flame tree

The scroll fluttered

To let them go

From their stuffy chambers

Over the open fields

Beyond the dunes

Beyond the valleys

Beyond the seas

+

Those not drumming

At deaf ears

Not beating chests

Before frozen faces

Had their air vented

Every corner

Presence stretched

Beyond horizons

+

Those not making signs

Not humming melodies

Not despatching doves

With bold festoons

Had their warm hands touched

The grips behind the shields

Switched on lights in the trenches

Whispered peace into their bones

+

Those not bustling anymore

Had dug out their stuff bare

To bring tranquillity

And cool to the marrow

A downpour of pearly rain

Over grey sands

A flood of sparkling rhythms

Over fractured limbs

+

On the long white beach

Where kin and neighbours

And visitors from the ranches

Gathered in a frenzy

The children screamed

'Have they gone, gone forever'?

The echo returned

And promptly tattooed

+

On their wiggly backs

With blow paint

In dark waxy

Bubbly blobs

'We are here, we are with you.'

Then the charred souls

Waving their hands

Set off for the cliff top tower

+

That was in smoko time

Last fall at Manhattan

When the lotus bloomed

In the heart shaped lake

Not far away

From the other towers

Sprinkling hot ashes over the trail

To the summit's dome.

September 2002 Casuarina NT

About the Poet Prithvindra Chakravarti

Prithvindra Chakravarti comes from Santiniketan (India). He lives in Darwin (Northern Territory). Has published poems and transcreations in African, Indian, American and Australian magazines. A collection of poems, tentatively titled Man Moon Earth will appear soon. Currently working on a one-act play for children. Educated in Visva-Bharati and Calcutta Universities and University of Chicago. Fulbright Fellow at The Univ of Chicago (1962-66). Spent one year on sabbatical at the University of Cambridge (1975-76), and a semester at ANU (1986). Worked in Calcutta, Chicago, Wisconsin (Madison), Papua New Guinea, Darwin and Batchelor (NT). Chaired the Department of Literature (10 yrs) and ran Creative Writing Program (for 15yrs) at Univ of Papua New Guinea (till 1986). Was Convenor of Literature Colloquium of the IIIrd South Pacific Festival of the Arts, 1982. Residency at International Writing Program, University of Iowa (1976), Participated in Commonwealth Writers Conference (Coinciding with Commonwealth Games), Brisbane, 1982. Participated in Festival of Words, Darwin, 1996; Papua New Guinea Then and Now: Reflections on Cultural Decolonisation and Nationalism - A Symposium at Univ of Sydney, July 2002. Two poems on ABC Radio National 1996. Northern Territory Literary awards - Red Earth Poetry (NT) Highly Commended 1995.
   [Above] Photo of Prithvindra Chakravarti by Dr Steve Winduo, 2002.

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