With the sun moving westwards
The sky turns crimson like a bride.
Shadows lengthen along country lanes
as snakes uncoiling in the dark.
From the far away minaret,
The muezzin's loud cry is heard.
The *coolies, after the day's toil,
hasten away to their cluttered shacks.
The notes of a familiar lay
flow down from the talkie house.
Women in gaudy, silken wear,
with strings of Jasmine tucked to their hair,
saunter gaily to the local shrine.
Men winding up their day's business
retreat to their habitual haunts.
The herdsmen from slopes of hills,
hasten the sheep to be locked in pens.
Storks line upon slimy fields
to feed on fish, trapped in puddles.
In the slanting beams of evening light,
the landscape lies in ethereal hue.
With the sun,
plummeting into the depths -
I saw……….......
darkness swallowing the sleepy Earth
like a python devouring its unwary prey,
and the day slowly dying down.
Drunk in that gorgeous grace,
I, into a luminous glowworm turned!
The sky turns crimson like a bride.
Shadows lengthen along country lanes
as snakes uncoiling in the dark.
From the far away minaret,
The muezzin's loud cry is heard.
The *coolies, after the day's toil,
hasten away to their cluttered shacks.
The notes of a familiar lay
flow down from the talkie house.
Women in gaudy, silken wear,
with strings of Jasmine tucked to their hair,
saunter gaily to the local shrine.
Men winding up their day's business
retreat to their habitual haunts.
The herdsmen from slopes of hills,
hasten the sheep to be locked in pens.
Storks line upon slimy fields
to feed on fish, trapped in puddles.
In the slanting beams of evening light,
the landscape lies in ethereal hue.
With the sun,
plummeting into the depths -
I saw……….......
darkness swallowing the sleepy Earth
like a python devouring its unwary prey,
and the day slowly dying down.
Drunk in that gorgeous grace,
I, into a luminous glowworm turned!
A street urchin-
An untamed bird of the wider sky
Dropped down
Into the circus tent
Before him was unfurled
Scenes eerie….awesome! !
Roaring lions and tigers,
Gibbering baboons, caravans of camels,
Animal tamers and acrobats,
Artists balancing on poles
Swinging from bars to trapeziums
Pliant girls with plastic limbs
And pouting breasts,
Walking on tight ropes
A queer world
Peopled with beasts and men!
His face, painted white and red
In motley dress, he was arrayed
And a tall tapering cap, placed
On his forcibly tonsured head
He hardly knew what it all meant.
He heard the bells ringing
And it was time for the show
He was told
He would henceforth be a clown
And should make people laugh
A thousand sunsets passed him by
He forgot the familiar alleys of the streets
Lost sight of the endless pathways of the sky
In a world -
So populous- so empty,
He buried him
In the hidden caverns of himself
Nursing a hundred bruises
Inflicted by Time's sharp razors
Often he was reminded-
"You should make others laugh"
He did make people laugh
While a fountain of tears lay frozen
In the slivers of his broken heart! !
