Killing Field by Krushangini - Summary

     The poem entitled “Killing field” was written by Krushangini, a contemporary Tamil poet of acute sensitivity to ecological imbalances and the role of human intervention. This poem presents an evocative picture of paper making starting with the cutting of a tree, stacking, planing, making pulp and finally changing into sheets of paper.  The result is widespread environmental destruction and even loss of a lot of plant species. 

     In the first stanza, the poet says that trees were cut down and arranged one over the other in piles.  But the butterflies were still on them still searching for their shelter stupidly without knowing that their shelter had already been undone. The second stanza gives the cruel account of the other processes. The machine planes the trees, shaves it into piles and turns them into pulp. Poet at this point keenly observes that this pulp contains not only the life of trees but also the small butterflies and insects. Then the machine spits out sheets of paper.  

The last lines conclude with the statement that the dazzling, white and spotless paper is a product of unrecorded murders (of the tree, numerous life forms on it including butterflies and minute insects).  The Tamil poet, Krushangini, brings up the murders associated with paper making in a poetically biting manner. The spotless and white paper that is ejected by the machine symbolizes the self destroying stupidity of human beings. The sheets of paper hides the story of unrecorded murders of many organisms and also the unnecessary murder of other forms of life. The last stanza ridicules the double standards of modern human civilization.

     

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