author, poet, translator, and performer
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From and about Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar.
A poem about restraint, patience, and surprise, from the 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint Avvaiyar.
Don’t think to conquer the one who holds back,
Concluding he must lack sense.
Perched on the sluicegate
Letting the running fish run, the white crane
Waits for the catch.
Moothurai 16, “Adakkam udayar arivilar.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
GIVE, EAT, AND LIFE: POEMS OF AVVAIYAR
Red Hen Press, Los Angeles
A poem about staying close to goodness, from the 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint Avvaiyar.
To behold a good person is good. To hear
His words full of goodness is good.
To speak
Of a good person’s character is good. Good
To find a place in his company.
Moothurai 8, “Nallarai kanbathum nandre.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
GIVE, EAT, AND LIFE: POEMS OF AVVAIYAR
Red Hen Press, Los Angeles
A poem about true friendship by the 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint Avvaiyar. From her collection, “The Word that Endures.”
Like water birds that leave a dried-up lake
Those who flee trouble are not friends.
Like the lilies
And lotuses staying in that lake,
Those who stick with you—friends.
Moothurai 17, “Atra kulathil aruneer paravai pol.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
GIVE, EAT, AND LIFE: POEMS OF AVVAIYAR
Red Hen Press, Los Angeles
A poem about true strength: “Tough Does Not Beat Tender,” from the 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint Avvaiyar and her book Nalvazhi, “The Right Road.”
Tough does not beat tender. Arrows
Pierce elephants, not cotton.
Rods of iron
Cannot crack stone, but a tree’s green roots
Split rocks.
Nalvazhi 33, “Vettanavai methanavai vellavam.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
GIVE, EAT, AND LIFE: POEMS OF AVVAIYAR
Red Hen Press, Los Angeles
A poem about size and true strength by the 12th century Tamil woman, poet, and saint Avvaiyar. From her collection, “The Word that Endures.”
Magnolias have large petals; honeysuckles, a sweet fragrance.
Don’t judge a man small by his body.
The sea is vast
Yet cannot clean hands. Beside it, the little spring
Yields sweet water.
Moothurai 12, “Madal perithu thazhai.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
GIVE, EAT, AND LIFE: POEMS OF AVVAIYAR
Red Hen Press, Los Angeles