POEM FOR FRIENDS

my mother at sixty six by kamala das DRIVING FROM MY PARENT'S HOME TO COCHIN LAST FRIDAY MORNING, I SAW MY MOTHER, BESIDE ME, DOZE, OPEN MOUTHED, HER FACE ASHEN LIKE THAT OF A CORPSE AND REALISED WITH PAIN THAT SHE WAS AS OLD AS SHE LOOKED BUT SOON PUT THAT THOUGHT AWAY, AND LOOKED OUT AT YOUNG TREES SPRINTING, THE MERRY CHILDREN SPILLING OUT OF THEIR HOMES, BUT AFTER THE AIRPORT SECURITY CHECK, STANDING A FEW YARDS AWAY, I LOOKED AGAIN AT HER , WAN , PALE AS A LATE WINTER'S MOOON AND FELT THAT OLD FAMILIAR ACHE, MY CHILDHOOD'S FEAR , BUT ALL I SAID WAS , SEE YOU SOON , AMMA , ALL I DID WAS SMILE AND SMILE AND SMILE... . ABOUT THE POET KAMALA DAS (1934) WAS BORN IN MALABAR, KERALA. SHE IS RECOGNISED AS ONE OF INDIA'S FOREMOST POETS. HER WORKS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR ORIGINALITY, VERSATILITY AND THE INDIGENOUS FLAVOUR OF THE SOIL. KAMALA DAS HAS PUBLISHED MANY NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH AND MALAYALAM UNDER THE NAME 'MADHAVIKUTTY'. SOME OF HER WORKS IN ENGLIS