Kadambs
When I see them so close from my terrace,
In sway, to and forth in the evening breeze,
Their brown leaves falling off, as if from grace,
With every little burst of monsoon squeeze,
Those yellowed waiting to fall in careless ease,
I wonder if man should learn from trees:
Their endless patience, their resigned frisson
To life, bowing to the will of Nature,
In tune with time, the mood of every season,
Standing tall still triumphant in stature;
Man but admiring from distance, and cool,
Remains the student of a condescending school.
There's something so peculiar of rains so rife,
Which do things strange to me, to trees alike;
It's not water, an elixir of life,
(Trees draw water through roots, through leaves from air,
(And plants can be watered in pots and pans.)
When I water my potted plants they smile,
My worry is o'er-watering,
Having seen them suffer a decayed death,
Yet, I've seen weeds growing on sheer self-will,
Rains stretching their green smile an extra mile;
So, trees take copious rains in their stride,
And none the worse seem for this wet largesse.
And in a few days I see what rains do:
Lo, Kadamb1 has come to a fruity spell,
Underneath every leaf there hangs a fruit
Flowering, many still too small to see,
Some, ahead of race, showing off their plume,
A yellowish orange coat of young buds,
Like furs of a tennis ball, blossoming
All around the fruit's glistening surface.
There follows soon a swarm of honey bees,
A variety of sundry butterflies,
Feasting in a rainless spell in undisturbed ease,
And a feast no less to my un-tired eyes;
But good seldom lasts long, a fact of life,
Kadamb1 gets no grace from Nature's wise rule.
The orange furs ripen soon to acquire
A darkling brown shade to fall on the ground
Below, in a smooth bed spread all around,
Much like Parijaat flowers from heaven,
Alas, no match to their heady fragrance;
The buds die buds, not blossoming into flowers.
The bald fruit, no more a tennis ball now,
Soon ripens to attract Simian brigades,
Making me wonder, why humans avoid
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poem by Aniruddha Pathak
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