Homage to India

In dreams I steer
Into the narrow inlet
That separates Sri Lanka from the Indian subcontinent,
And as I stand
On the ship’s upper deck,
A seductive breeze ruffles my hair.

Meanwhile, for all that time,
Time that seems endless,
You’ve been telling me in your friendly manner
About your religion,
So close to Nature’s own
That it reflects the resident
Spirit of the tropical forest,
Of the mountains of Ceylon
With their innumerable tea plantations
Or, perhaps, of the rivers
With their alluvial waves.

With the clear signs
You trace in the air with your
Very expressive hands,
You help me understand the beauty
Of the show of affection you promise me,
And you describe to me
In the most vivid colours the hospitality
That I will receive from
The members of your entourage
And from the King of your region,
Which lies somewhere out there in the vastness of India,
As well as from the Queen
And her cortege of male and female
Dancers and musicians!

And then I begin to imagine
Your King’s processions,
Identical to those of a Fertility God
Who is born and dies on specific days,
Yes, an Indian Shiva
Or a Greek Dionysus!

And I rejoice at the idea
Of meeting Hindu bards
As they invent a new legend
Or a new version of the Ramayana!
For I know for certain
That India, despite its appalling human misery
And its dreadful anarchy,
Which stem from the vicissitudes which mark
The end of a cosmic cycle,
Yes, that India remains
An immense reserve of energy,
The last, perhaps, on our planet,
And if it were to lose its power,
Humanity would be left
Simply to perish in hatred
And baseness!

O India, I celebrate in you
The true roots of Universal Culture,
And I recognize in you
The cradle of all religions
And the arts and letters
On which they rest!

O India, we could never praise enough
Your special flavour,
We could never rejoice enough
In your Greatness
And your
Native Majesty!

FROM THE COLLECTION OF POEMS "LE DANSEUR ROY"

PUBLISHED BY ENCRES VIVES. COLLECTION LIEU. FEBRUARY 2012. FRANCE