Of late I have begun to feel a hunger
To take in with greed, like a forest fire that
Consumes and with each killing gains a wilder,
Brighter charm, all that comes my way. Bald child in
Open pram, you think I only look, and you
Too, slim lovers behind the tree and you, old
Man with paper in your hand and sunlight in
Your hair... My eyes lick at you like flames, my nerves
Consume ; and, when I finish with you, in the
Pram, near the tree and, on the park bench, I spit
Out small heaps of ash, nothing else. But in me
The sights and smells and sounds shall thrive and go on
And on and on. In me shall sleep the baby
That sat in prams and sleep and wake and smile its
Toothless smile. In me shall walk the lovers hand
In hand and in me, where else, the old shall sit
And feel the touch of sun. In me, the street-lamps
Shall glimmer, the cabaret girls cavort, the
Wedding drums resound, the eunuchs swirl coloured
Skirts and sing sad songs of love, the wounded moan,
And in me the dying mother with hopeful
Eyes shall gaze around, seeking her child, now grown
And gone away to other towns, other arms."
Forest Fire
Kamala Das
(6)
Poem topics: I love you, away, baby, fire, greed, hair, mother, sad, sun, walk, wedding, small, street, touch, park, hunger, open, charm, gaze, sunlight, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about Forest Fire poem by Kamala Das
Sarah Ahmed: Her nerves eating all her desire experiences and spitting out little heaps of ash echo her shouting voice, as do her eyes licking like flames and her nerves consuming all her desire experiences and spitting out small heaps of ash. She also mentions various aspects of life, such as a baby in a pram, lovers behind a tree, and old age, to illustrate the various stages of life and the emotions that she will have to face, just like any other woman who must face the same fate in her life as the poet in a society that marginalises a perfectly normal desire to be free to express, choose, and love as one wishes.
Lark Decipher: Kamal Das, in her poem Forest Fire talks about the various aspects of female life and uses her words to provide an external outlet to her burning, internalised outrage against the various hard and fast rule that the female body and female desires are subjected to by the oppressive patriarchal society. She says that she has the longing to consume everything that she comes across, every restriction, every confinement and then leave nothing of them but heaps of ashes as an act of her defiance. She, in a subtler tone also hints at her sexual longing and her oppressed right to be an equal counterpart to men in her sexual freedom and choice. Her eyes licking like flames and her nerves consuming all the experiences of her desire and spitting out small heaps of ash (in form of her emotions and feelings in the aftermath) also echo her screaming voice for a sexual liberty.
She also talks about different walks of life ranging from a baby in the pram to lovers behind a tree and then old age (most probably speaking to her baby girl lying in the pram) to indicate the different stages of life and the emotions that she will have to go through like any other woman whose has to meet the same fate in her life as the poet in a society which marginalises a completely normal desire to be free to express, choose and love at one’s own accord.
Best Poems of Kamala Das