Jayanta Mahapatra As A Feminist Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

Jayanta Mahapatra as a feminist when
Discuss we,
The picture of a fisher girl
Involved in body business
And the father too aware of
All that,
Standing silent
In full consent
On the sea beach.

Jayanta Mahapatra is a feminist when
Discuss we,
The villagerly woman waiting
For the arrival of her husband
As a missing person,
A nameless fellow
In the country,
A household-work doer
With the oil lamp into
The hands of hers
And the lamp in flickers.

Jayanta Mahapatra and his feminism reflected
In the portrayal of the fate
Of the country daughter,
the fate-lines of a girl,
A daughter whose path of life is unknown,
A chapter filled with filial love
And its depiction
And portrayal,
What it the writ of her destiny,
Who can but predict
Neither the horoscope-maker nor the astrologer
Nor the palmist?

The dark daughters, the daughters of maya
Are they,
The motifs of affection, sympathy
And attachment,
Carved on the temple walls
As carvings
Or terracotta plates,
The dark daughters,
The same daughters
As sisters, mothers and daughters,
Mythical and mystical,
Nocturnal and symbolical.