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Attoor Ravi Varma
Empty Space
Here suicides are
on the wane now.
In the past every year
one or two --- sometimes more ---
chose these rail tracks :
a deserted, overcast, silent curve
on the bank of paddy fields.
Faster trains meant
more comfortable deaths.
Paddy fields were reclaimed
to build houses. Then came
bylanes and street lamps.
Everything became visible
without the effort of watching.
The betrayed,
the jobless
those afflicted with incurable
diseases or philosophical anguish
found this place a panacea.
This place is the last animal
of the species
to complete extinction,
life grabbing mortal mount.
Translated by E. V. Ramakrishnan
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