PICNIC ON BACK-WATERS

That wild picnic noon in the woods

Bewitches  my  bones again and again

Every time unfurling fresh petals  of your palms

That glowed under the winks of a prying Sun

As you offered them for me to quarry

The lines that spoke of our future union

When  some continued cutting vegetables

And others were busy peeling onion .

Your lips shied away like a gentle wind

Eluding the breath of  the excited ripples

On the back-waters of river  Kolab

That giggled at us from nearby

As we talked about an imagined cottage

And our young love’s half-grown plumage .

Dancing  to the beats of a number

Drew our breaths  still closer

And your singing of the birds of a Gajal

In search of  lost homes made us wonder

Before  we ambled thro’ the dry leaves

That had caught fire from the cool oven

Of our glowing hearts in their wild leaps .

Comp. n copy right : Saroj K. Padhi

25/11/14