A Walk Home

Clear blue skies
sneaking in through
a canopy of gulmohurs
summer temperatures
cooling in twilight
seemed like a walk
I would remember

A man lay
motionless
in muck and water
dead or drunk
I wish not enquire
passed him by
not wanting to
break my reverie
of a pleasant walk home

Paused

a moment longer

what if

pushed the thought away

walking

A man

relieving himself
further ahead
Darkening a wall
well abused before
flashing his member
in nonchalant entitlement

A man spat
on a tree trunk
owning it
not noticing
the Giant cringe
in hapless subdue

Revelers ahead
snacking with abandon
against uncollected
garbage from days bygone
feeding flies
in service
of furthering their species
helping its mission

a flowing drain

A pup ahead
ah! some relief
in his playful swagger
hungry he seemed
rummaging!
pity I took
needing to uplift
my waning mood
biscuits would do the trick
a kick he got
from a passing man
scurried the mongrel
into a drain petrified

leaving the biscuits untouched

Sigh! for wanting
a happy ending

A carcass ahead
Burnt to the bone

unrecognisable its species
An old mongrel
gnawing at it
with ferocious hunger

Keeping some biscuits near
I hurried away
Not wanting to plant
the image of man's
indignity to another species

Looked up
in search of stratocumulus
beyond the gulmohurs
only enveloping darkness
engulfing my being
in silent triumph

A walk home
in sullen silence
was all that I managed

Wish I Was A God No More

Yet another year
I am decorated
and celebrated

They make
more of me
and bigger too
more money, I guess
to show their faith

They don't like me
anymore
for who I am

They make me
more human-like now
a Army man,
a policeman
a politician
a cricketer
a movie star
a cartoon character too

Adding more colours
and more grandeur
It resembles me
yet it does not

Have they lost the plot
or am I too old
to understand
I know not

Everyday
flowers
crackers
loud music
and dancing
leaving
a decaying
destruction
in its fray
to be cleaned
by the untouchables

And in time,
its time to say goodbye
with much fanfare and noise
they see me off
Visarjan they call it
dumping me
in the big wide ocean

There are thousands more
every year
me and me and me
choking the waters
and its peaceful inhabitants

When all is done
and dusted
left alone
and abandoned

Awaiting as I dissolve
in ever delaying plaster
a million fish and more
die a silent death
in service of humankind
whose all but abandoned them

What use am I
a god for none
there to feed
an ever rising ego
and kill
those silent beings
that I lovingly
brought into a
nurturing world
long lost its way
to greed and pomp

Wish I wasn't
a god no more
wiped from memory
of a humankind
so blinded with me
that they fail to see
the destruction they bring
to my most beautiful creation

I sigh
and wait
yet another occasion!

Prompted to write when I saw this terrifying video - https://www.facebook.com/indiatimes/videos/2222166398014603/

The Mythical Kingfisher

With the first rays of the sun,
I bring a bright blue happiness to the world.
I find myself at the same bank of water
Everyday.
In expectation of Fish
The food of my liking.
Alas! The water is dark and slimy.
All I see is a black, green and brown,
for as far as my eyes
and sometimes even my wings take me!

Perched on an electric wire,
I wait patiently
Look intently
For longer and longer
each day now!
I seek my food
in the black, green and brown.

Ah! I see a bubble rise up
There definitely must be fish
Excited! I make my dive
Quick and focused
Beak first
Nothing! Yet again!
Just another inflated plastic bag
letting its air out!
leaving me black, brown and green
and a weird smell that takes days to go!
I smell no good anymore!

The fish have long left,
not finding the air to breathe
beneath the slime
They have gone to a happier place
While I wait in hope!
desperate and in despair
yet hopeful in god's world.

I remember the day
When I could see my bright blue
In the light blue of the water!
When kids came to watch me
Make my dive
swift and focused
Yelping with joy
I emerge proud; Fish in beak.
They clapped and asked for more
sometimes I obliged.

No kids anymore
It is difficult to spot me
In all the slime!
My friends have left
and I get by with worms and human waste now!

I am no long the Kingfisher of yore!
Just a pathetic shadow of the past
Soon to become a myth
as all my kind go extinct
giving up hope
on human kindness and empathy.
No longer able to live
in the black, brown and the slimy green.

~ 26th October 2012. At a Bridge in Pune on an early morning walk.