A Private Sorrow

a poem by George Oommen

Her looks were inviting,
Some unquenched thirst was written on her face-
To drag the whole sea in
And to submerge in the flood.

And I,
I was all smiles within.

You may say that soul is more important
Than the body:
For the will comes from within.
My soul was even ready for polygamy.

You know,
What went wrong is neither the body nor the soul;
It’s just a curse of nature.

Women can be passive even in copulation;
May be a gift or curse for them.
But man,
Man has to pierce,
Pierce and pierce to quench the mutual thirst.

By now you may know what went wrong;
I couldn’t rise myself to the occasion.

How much I liked
To become the sea
To quench her thirst!
And that’s a different story.

But if hopes are given wings,
Dear women,
You will see the sea raging
In my looks and walks.