Heggar by Aleyamma Korah

Aleyamma K M>poems> Heggar

By  the valley of Hebron

From the secluded cave of the Macpela

The guardian of death

Finally makes a retreat.

Before the grave of Sarah

Among  the dancing shadows of the  date palms

I stand alone

The funeral procession from Kirytharba To Memra (Hebron Valley)

Was so poignant to watch

Lyres were singing heart breaking songs

There was Abraham weeping

Isahak the stoic self

Guarded by the people,the janapadhas.

Would he be thinking of Ishmael

His eyes looking for his brother torn away?

Sarah,

When we started from Mishraim

I was just so young

Like a shadow I followed you

Forgetting the house, kin and all .

After the valleys of perfumes

After the never found flowers

I have roamed around gardens

To wrap you up in feminine charms

So intense was the days

The pain was so lingering…

Do you remember the day you came from the house of Pharaohs

So distraught ,your hair dishevelled, dress torn

You were shouting at Abraham

Throwing away the royal gifts

Cursing the beauty that was you

Sarah,

I have loved to tend your babe

And prayed before Jehovah .

In the altars among the perfumes covering up the seat of god

A fertility ritual was offered

Haggar was the offering you made ( To Abraham)

For which my son and me were banished

The first taste of dispossession

A soul mate should not have done.

The day when the breastfeeding of Isaac was over

The oldman came and given bread to is son weeping

And asked us to go away to the endless nights and days of the deserts

From the innards of the courtyard

Sweet lullabies spread its magic halo around

But there were no calls

There were no steps to call us back…

In the berseba desrt

Where it would punch even the last bits of life

Me and my child were roaming seeking mirages

Of nights and days…

In the oasis the last drops were lost

I closed the eyes unable to watch him die

In the oasis in the lap of the small shadows I left him

And wished why god doesn’t send sulphur and thunder to end the world.

Suddenly the desert rend into two

And new springs came up bathing us in the beauty of life and god

From the shores of the death he came out

Shining like a god armoured

It has been years since

The pain has been forgotten

The loss and the gain

The fear and the curse

Only at the moment of death

My sister of love

I have come here alone to offer my homage

In remembrance of what we have loved and lost

Only a moment between you and me

I