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The bird with waxed wings (Poem - Joseph Nambimadam)

Published on 09 October, 2020
 The bird with waxed wings (Poem - Joseph Nambimadam)
Oh! dear Bird, Bird of Life
Burdened with heavy waxed wings

Melt away that wax, the wax
Accumulated over the years

The wax of unwanted knowledge
The wax of unneeded distractions

The wax of unwanted thoughts
The weights, that weigh you down

The heavy burdens, that
Hinders you from soaring high

Melt away the unwanted wax
And lighten up your wings

Melt it away, before you even try
Or thy will face the fate of Icarus.*

With natural wings, unadorned
Soar high with self esteem 

Fly to new continents unseen
Land on new islands unexplored

Fly over Icarian sea, land in Icaria
Land on uninhabited islands

Soar high over the cloudy skies 
Soar high over rumbling thunders

Soar to new heights, undisturbed
By daily human maladies

Oh! dear bird, fly high like an eagle
undaunted, undisturbed, uninhibited

Oh! dear Bird, Bird of Life,
Bird of Wisdom, fly high, soar high.

(Icarus- In Greek mythology, Icarus and his father Daedalus were imprisoned on an island by King Minos. To escape from the island, Daedalus, a master craftsman, created two sets of wings with wax and feathers. He warned his son not to fly too close to the sun as the waxen wings would melt. But forgetting his father's advice, Icarus came closer to sun. The waxen wings melted and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. Daedalus wept for his son and named the nearest land "Icaria" in memory of his son and the sea is known as Icarian Sea.)  

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Sudhir Panikkaveetil 2020-10-09 14:18:14
As far as I know we have two bilingual poets among US Malayalee writers viz. Joseph Nambimatam and C Andrews. Both of them have published many poems in English and Malayalam. In this poem Shri Nambimatam delineate the specificity of human experience. The poet gives us access to reality i.e. the reason man cannot fly high because his wings are stuck on various glue traps which he himself made unwisely. The word “wax” poet used in this poem is symbolic. In the days of long ago dishonest merchants used wax to conceal broken pottery. But reputable merchants had hanged a board “ sine cera” ( without wax). I read somewhere the word sincere came from the above. When we use wax to cover our defects our life will be burdened with the weight of wax and it will impede our progress. Nobel laureate of 2014 for literature Patrick Modino said “when you are young, you neglect certain details that might become precious later”. Yes, we neglect good things and carry undesirable and unworthy things which block our aim in life. Realities come later and hence human beings need guidance and gospels to help reform their life. This is a poem of advice as well as thought provoking. Best wishes to the poet.
Joseph Nambimadam 2020-10-09 14:41:37
Thank you Sudhir Panikkaveetil for reading my poem and also for the comments. Since you left out one other name of bilingual poets here in USA, I would like to remind you of another name of Abdul Punnayoorkulam.
Sudhir Panikkaveetil 2020-10-09 19:51:52
ശ്രീ അബ്‌ദുൾ പുന്നയൂർക്കുളത്തിന്റെ പേര് ഓർമ്മയിൽ ഉണ്ടായിട്ടും എഴുതാൻ മറന്നുപോയി. തിരുത്തിയതിനു നന്ദി. ശ്രീ പുന്നയൂർക്കുളത്തിനോട് ക്ഷമാപണം ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്.
samgeev 2020-10-09 21:24:03
Congratulations. Good poem
Joseph Nambimadam 2020-10-10 01:52:15
Thanks Sudhir Panikkaveetil. Thank you Samjeev for reading and commenting on the poem.
Joy Abraham 2020-10-10 15:05:18
അതീവഹൃദ്യം, കാലഘട്ടത്തിന്റെ നേർക്കാഴ്ചകൾ, നന്നായിട്ടുണ്ട് sar
RAJU THOMAS 2020-10-10 19:27:00
Wow! A discerning reader can see where the writer is coming from. My sincere felicitations to you for maintaining your love for English literature. The central image of Icarus is masterfully employed. I wonder why I myself could not write something like this after all these years since getting enthused by the legend in reference during BA Literature. I guess you managed to swim out of the Icarian Sea (!) I only wish you were more austere. I mean, since you eschewed meter here, I would that you made the piece more condensed and thereby shorter and more poignant.
Joseph Nambimadam 2020-10-10 23:51:11
First of all, thanks for all the comments on this poem. Glad to see the comments from a point of view of serious reading rather than making some irrelevant opinions. Glad to see Raju Thomas was taken back to the old English Literature classes! Yes, surely the tragedy of Icarus was a lesson to me, that is why the bird in this poem was advised to burn the fat and to have light wings before even try to fly high. Thank you very much JOY ABRAHAM and RAJU THOMAS who are very good poets themselves as well as serious readers.
Jyothylakshmy Nambiar 2020-10-11 16:50:23
Dear poet. I read your poem and enjoyed it. In  Ramayana we have similar stories of Sampathi and Jatayu .   We have to dream big and aim high in life, but to achieve our goals we have to lighten our burdens. Good message.
diet 2020-10-11 17:32:11
diet poem, diet melt away fat and words adding weight that hinder a nimble flight
ജോസഫ് നമ്പിമഠം 2020-10-11 22:15:38
കവിത വായിക്കുകയും അഭിപ്രായം കുറിക്കുകയും ചെയ്ത ജ്യോതിലക്ഷ്മി നംബ്യാർക്ക് നന്ദി. ക്രിയേറ്റീവ്‌ ആയ കമെന്റുകൾ തീർച്ചയായും ഊർജ്ജദായകമാണ്. ഭാരതീയ പുരാണമായ രാമായണത്തിലെ സംപതിക്കു ചിറകുകൾ നഷ്ടമായത്, തന്നെക്കാൾ കൂടുതൽ ഉയരത്തിൽ അനുജനായ ജടായു പറന്ന് സൂര്യനോട് അടുത്തപ്പോൾ, അനുജനെ രക്ഷിക്കാൻ ജേഷ്ഠൻ അനുജനു മേൽ ചിറകുവിടത്തി പറന്നതുകൊണ്ടാണ്. ചെറുപ്പത്തിലേ ചിറകുകൾ നഷ്‌ടമായി ആയുഷ്ക്കാലം മുഴുവൻ ചിറകില്ലാതെ സംപതി ജീവിച്ചു. ജടായുവിനു ചിറകുകൾ നഷ്ട്ടമായത് രാവണനിൽ നിന്ന് സീതയെ രക്ഷിക്കാനുള്ള ശ്രമത്തിനിടയിലാണ്. ഈ രണ്ടു കഥകളിലെയും ചിറകുകൾ സ്വാഭാവിക ചിറകുകളാണ്. എന്നാൽ ഗ്രീക്ക് പുരാണത്തിലെ കഥയിൽ, അച്ഛനും മകനും ദ്വീപിലെ തടവിൽ നിന്നും രക്ഷപെടാൻ പക്ഷി തൂവലുകളും മെഴുകും ചേർത്ത് കൃത്രിമമായി നിർമ്മിച്ച ചിറകുകളാണ് ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നത്. എന്റെ കവിതയ്ക്ക് അനുയോജ്യമായ ബിംബം ഗ്രീക്ക് പുരാണകഥ ആയതു കൊണ്ടാണ് ആ കഥ അവലംബമാക്കിയത്. ഒരിക്കൽ കൂടി നന്ദി.
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