author, poet, translator, and performer
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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 the inner source of music.
HUSHED
In the library the young girl
her mother checking email
sang a little song she was
making in the moment it wasn’t
being sung for her mother
or herself it wasn’t being sung
for anyone around her it was only
being sung for the sake
of being sung her heart and mouth
moving in the movement of the song
and I knew who she was
beyond what I knew she was me
as a child singing to be singing
and I knew that her mother
in the library would stop her
would tell her to be quiet
how could she not but oh
for the singing that seeks
no applause and is ours
even in the silence
“Hushed,” by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE SAFETY OF EDGES
Marrowstone Press, Seattle
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