SAGGING SAILS !

With no sync in the practice of birds dillydallying
in their efforts at a background note ,
to the morning raag Bhairabi in the wind
seem powerless to catch the crescendo ;

black butterflies smear pollen dust on my skin
trying to add color to my fading dreams ;
the koel on the bare tree
bursts into periodic outflows in a hurry to invite
leaves to bare branches that can preempt the oncoming
deluge lurking in the distant sea wind ;
its brooding pauses interrogating the unusual
silence in the south-west monsoon wind ;
the squirrel hops from the nearby leafy tree
to sprinkle sands into a distant sea
in a bid to rescue an enervated Sun from drowning .

People in groups discuss the cruelty of gods
urging Nature to customs turn blind
and making offensive caricature of the Great Lord
with such a ridiculously poor shower
not enough even to drench a single finger.

The black ants sniff a rise in sugar level
In the weak body politic dithering to strike back
at intermittent violations at the border;
and signals of black destruction surfing a sea
determined to munch away the vulnerable coasts
wallowing in thirst and acute hunger ;

we are caught as if in a fix , unable to strike
when you stretch out into a formless image unkind !
and I into endless loiters in the corridors of an eunuch time
with my love paralyzed in the terrace of a sinking mankind !!
and challenging all the myths and metaphors in an impoverished mind !!!

composition n copyright : saroj kumar padhi
16/06/14