(Contd...)
When she opened her eyes A pristine new world welcomed her The heavens were an ominous gray An insect graveyard surrounded her Her weathered cracked body lay exposed on the rock Each fault with a story of its own. There blew a gentle wind But she had lost her gown to the thrush, And without the silky strands, Neither recognized the other. As if in response to lost love, The heavens opened Bestowing glittering jewels on the destitute soul A scene frozen in time A weathered browned seed on a weathered grey rock Blades of new life springing up around them On the earth, on the trees A shimmering misty cloak suspended in the air. The trickle of water soon turns into a stream Bathing muddied stones and grasses The seed princess lets herself be carried. Over the rocks, through the long grasses, Bidding gurgling farewells to fish Singing throatily in the frog-chorus Through silent pools and bustling riffles Sparkling in the sunlight Glowing in the moonlight They meandered Into the emerald-studded hall of the monsoon. Until they came to a waterfall 'Trust me', said the stream 'With my heart' said she And together, They jumped off the cliff. A deafening roar greeted her, She was falling, now flying Entranced by the misty caress of her fellow traveler Who held forth a curtain of jewel drops to accompany his beloved And laid out a rainbow slide So she landed gracefully into the foaming pool he held in his arms. They floated a little while longer Stolen moments of love Drifting alongside paper boats, Crisscrossing into arecanut backyards, The stream singing lullabies As she lay on grass beds at the edges of gentle pools. Once she awoke all alone, It was the middle of the night The rain gods had receded, And taken the stream prisoner. As his parting gift, the stream had left the princess, Deep in the soft embrace of the Earth. And as she lay there, The seed reflected on her life- On her first flight away from home Of her dance with the wind Of the cool shade of the banyan Of the whiskery kiss of the tree mouse Of the wandering stream Of the heaving waterfall Of the peace that was now hers. She knew failure She learnt to pick herself up after a fall, She knew fear She learnt to fight despair with hope, She knew love And for that she was grateful Her journey had transformed a snow-white clad glistening black princess into a cracked brown seed Content, she shut her eyes, Heart filled with indescribable emotion She surrendered to the warm embrace of the earth. The next day The sun peeped out from fluffly white clouds, The earth was bathed in a golden glow. Underneath the twittering canopy On the edges of the flooded gully There lay an exposed patch of chocolate brown land And at the center A lone silk cotton sapling. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She has known many summers And seen many monsoons But her eyes still search For the wind and the stream Yearning to regain Lost love.
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Under an azure sky
With the withering midwife gaze of the summer sun An earthen secret of the silk cotton burst open Revealing dozens of black princesses ensconced in their regal cottony chambers. Around them stretched a summer forest Dried goldens and coppery browns And the occasional fiery red Of the Flame of the forest. A few hours after the birth of the princesses into the summer world A crow descended upon the royal branch And out of juvenile curiosity Plucked at their kingly cocoon Alas! The cocoon crashed into the bed of dried leaves underneath The crow, his curiosity satiated, Flew off with the 'caw caw' of a village idiot. The princesses lamented at their fate, Dreams of flying, of ruling the forest Crushed prematurely. The sun shone, their spirits broke And they resigned themselves to the safety of the known. One lass was a bad seed, and she refused to let Fate control her dreams, She whipped up her cottony carpet And let the gentle evening breeze Parachute her into the darkness Away from screams of admonishment, weeping indignant sisters. The first night she rested on the branches of the ghost tree Whispering with spirits in the moonlight. At dawn she took off with the wind, On a magic carpet of her own. The wind was her guide now, her friend, her companion Together they laughed at the thieving langurs on the jackfruit tree Revered creatures of majestic pale coats and innocent black faces Delicately preening out the delectable sweetness of the fleshy fruits The 'krruurr kruurr' of the barbet resounded in the hills, While a lone serpent eagle circled the skies. As noon neared, the wind seemed to tire And he laid her tenderly on a sunny bloom of the copperpod Promising to return at sundown. He kept his promise And returned Bearing the heady fragrance of the mahua flowers For the Seed-princess. She thanked him for the extraordinary gift, And they danced away, A twirling shadow in the twilight Under the ballroom of stars. Intoxicated by the brew of romance She was an untamed pixie in her bridal gown And when she came to rest amidst the shady Banyan roots, The wind had already left. She awoke at dawn, Finding cold comfort in the jewels of dew on her blanket. Gigantic wooden gnarled roots imprisoned her And there wasn’t even a whiff of her beloved companion Would she die at the feet of the holy ficus, she wondered For in this dark dungeon, there was neither water nor light. She lay in despair as time passed her by Faced with imminent death. Occasionally an orange-headed thrush would hop close And pluck off her silky dress In preparation for his nest. At night, a tree mouse would sniff for food And she would tremble with fear under the fast-disappearing cotton tent. In the mornings, barbets and hornbills feasted in the canopy And parakeets too, Wasting more than they could eat The figs would fall to the ground, Spattering her tattered dress with dirty pink slush. Once an entire fruit fell atop her Burying her amidst mud and the fleshy pulp Now, she was truly afraid… For Hope finally deserted her. That night, the tree mouse returned Her heart thudding louder, The rodent drew nearer She shut her eyes "Atleast I have known love" And he swallowed the fruit And the silk cotton seed whole. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Contd in next post) |
AuthorRamblings on wildlife sharing spaces with non-wild humans Archives
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