Friday 12 November 2010

orchha-2

Jungle

The arrows of the world
Are scorching and merciless
As the sun of June and my fate.

Come, take shelter
in the fortress of love.
Love is all you need,
Do not worry about your desires,
They all will drop off from mind
At the touch of love.
Like a toy from child's hand
When it sees its mother.
How can after all, in a well
Filled with rain of monsoon
Can the frogs and fish be thirsty still?

Do not go out.
Do not yield to,
The temptation of the hunt,
To the lure of green jungle,
The sweetness of overflowing streams,
The scent of the wild lily,
The song of the nightingale.

Because, the jungle is not
As it seems now.
In the dusk
It changes colours.
And its true form is revealed
Only in the light of the dark night.

There is none but
Stark darkness to grope about.
There is no music but
The noise of crickets to scare.
No sleep will be kind to your eyes
Wary of wild animals of prey
Ready to pounce and feast.

No bed of grasses but ivy
To place to rest your head.
The roads will mislead you
And the walk tire your body.
The thorns will lacerate your feet,
The stream will be elusive
As will be the prized hunt.
And before you realise
The hunt would hunt you down,
Drag you by its jaws,
And throw your bones
To the bloody stream.


As usual - I am worse at titles than I am at the poems that follow!