Absences
by Dom Moraes
Smear out the last· star· .
No lights from the islands
Or hills . In the great· square
The prolonged vowel of silence
Makes itself plainly heard
Round the ghost· of a headland·
Clouds, leaves, shreds of bird
Eddy , hindering the wind· .
No vigils left to keep· .
No enemies left to slaughter· .
The rough· roofs of the slopes ,
Loosely thatched with splayed water· ,
Only shelter· microliths and fossils .
Unwatched, the rainbows build
On the architraves of hills.
No wounds left to be· healed .
Nobody left to be· beautiful .
No polyp admiral to sip
Blood and whiskey· from a skull
While fingering his warships.
Terrible relics, by tiderace
Untouched , the stromalites breathe· .
Bubbles plop on the surface· ,
Disturbing the balance· of death· .
No sound· would be· heard if
So much silence was not heard.
Clouds scuff like sheep· on the cliff· .
The echoes of stones are restored.
No longer any foreshore
Or any abyss, this
World only held together
By its variety· of absences .
Dom Moraes Biography
Dominic Francis Moraes , popularly known as Dom Moraes , was a
Goan writer· , poet· and columnist . He published nearly 30 books .
Early Life Moraes was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Beryl and
Frank Moraes , former editor of the Times of India . He attended St .
Mary's School (ISC) , Mazagoan , Bombay , and Jesus College , Oxford
University . Moraes spent eight years· in Britain , in London and Oxford ,
New York city· , Hong Kong , Delhi and Mumbai . Career He edited
magazines in London , Hong Kong and New York . He became the
editor of The Asia Magazine in 1971 . He scripted and partially directed
over 20 television documentaries for the BBC and ITV . He was a war
correspondent in Algeria , Israel and Vietnam . In 1976 he joined the
United Nations . Moraes conducted one of the first· interviews of the
Dalai Lama after the Tibetan spiritual· leader· fled to India in 1959 . The
Dalai Lama was then 23 and Moraes was 20 . Moraes ended his writing
career , writing books in collaboration with Sarayu Srivatsa . Later Life
He had a lifelong battle· with alcoholism . Moraes suffered from cancer ,
but refused treatment· and died from a heart· attack· in Bandra ,
Mumbai . He was buried in the Sewri Cemetery in Mumbai and as per
his last· wishes Sarayu Srivatsa buried the soil· from his grave· in
Odcombe , Somerset , on 19 July 2002 (his birthdate) . Many of Dom's
old friends and publishers attended the memorial· service· in Odcombe .
A headstone in yellow· Jaisalmer stone· lies embedded in the front·
lawn of the church to mark· the service· . When the Gujarat riots
erupted in 2002 , with their heavy· toll· of Muslim dead· , Moraes left for
Ahmedabad the minute· the news came through , claiming that since he
was a Catholic , Muslims would not see· him as an enemy . Even
though he was physically in considerable pain· by then , he was one of
the first· on the scene· . Personal Life In 1956 , aged 18 , he was
courted by Henrietta Moraes . They married in 1961 . He left her ,
according to his close· friends in London , but did not divorce her .
[citation needed] He had a son , Heff Moraes , with his second· wife
Judith . He later married celebrated Indian actress and beauty· Leela
Naidu and they were a star· couple· , known across several continents ,
for over two· decades . They separated in the mid- 1990 s . Awards and
Recognitions Hawthornden Prize for the best work· of the imagination· ,
1958 , for the book· of poems A Beginning Autumn Choice of the Poetry
Book Society for Poems ( 1960 ))
