The month of August has its signature hue of sunlight in the northern hemisphere. The golden orange increases in sharpness and brightness as the month rolls on. This sublime quality of light is what I associate with arriving in the United States.
The turn of light at the end of summer means the month of August, of having left home as I knew it and of coming to America. I have yet to meet a person who does not get whimsical and nostalgic about this transition as a graduate student, irrespective of the time that has gone by. It is also rather hard to get us to stop talking about the experience once we get started. Our hearts seem to be still entangled somewhere in there. Though the transition is much easier now with all the worlds getting much closer, it still is a process. Mine runs through my mind at least briefly, every year, come August.
Where prose falls short, good poetry fulfills. Recently I came across a poem which was written in a different situation but in which the above transition came deliciously alive. Here it is-
This poem by Colette Bryce won the National Poetry Award (UK) in 2003. It was also voted as the favorite poem in a poll celebrating 30 years of the National Poetry Competition in 2008.
******
Me, a September student. Like clockwork, I too get transported to that time every year. Loved the poem. No wonder it was voted favorite!
ReplyDelete