Forest Fire
- Kamala Das
“My heart is not a stone, it is a burning forest fire.”
"Forest Fire" is taken from Kamala Das's poetry collection The Descendants (1967). The poem is a bold and confessional expression of her hunger for deep intimacy and physical desire, which she compares to an uncontrollable and destructive forest fire. The symbol of fire represents her restless passion, emotional torment, and rebellion against a society that expects women to remain silent about their sexuality.
“Why should I care to hide my hunger?”
She openly admits her cravings, making her personal experience a universal voice for women, especially those who are suppressed in a patriarchal culture. However, even after fulfilling physical desires, she confesses to feeling emptiness and loneliness, as her soul longs for not only physical frivolity but also a sweet bond with her partner, a deep emotional connection.
Thus, the fire becomes destructive as the forest fire consumes everything that comes its way; just like this, it consumes her peace of mind and purifies and cleanses her through honest confession. The poem concludes with Kamala Das by saying that her passion is both a curse and a truth. The fire within her may bring emptiness and pain, yet it also defines her identity as a woman who refuses to hide behind silence.
Through this, she establishes herself as a pioneering confessional poet who writes about the body, physical desire, pain, and identity with rare honesty and bold confession.
The poem concludes with the feeling that her desire is both a curse and a truth. It causes pain, but it also defines her identity as a woman who refuses to remain voiceless. Forest Fire is not merely about physical intimacy; it captures the blazing controversy between body and soul, between society’s restraints and a woman’s natural hunger for love and freedom.
“Like a wildfire, her desires spread beyond control, consuming silence and shame.”
Themes:
- Female desire & hunger
- Confession & honesty
- Identity & womanhood
- Shame & guilt
- Loneliness
- Rebellion against patriarchy
- Freedom vs. Restraint
- Conflict of self
Information:
The Descendants (1967) is her second poetry collection, where she wrote more boldly about female desire as compared to Summer in Calcutta (1965).
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