Mountain Moments
The most abstract mountain
Out there, amidst the clouds
Is in fact the most grounded,
the most concrete
Just like my sorrow that is
masked with joyful dancing
And laughter amidst people
*
The roots of the oak trees
Form a network of communication
Under the ground in the forest
To reach out to the cedar,
to pines and even the nettles
To safeguard from
Species for whom genocide and slaughter
Are development
And suicide
a joyful endgame
*
It is more difficult to land on
The full round moon
On the still lake waters
Than the circular bright moon
In the skies
Absence
How do I get your new number?
Yours was one that
stayed in my memory always
the rest lay locked in the phone
Each time I dial your number
It rings in my ears
With you absent on the other side
O mother
The number continues to be,
But not you
Some day
I too will exit
Leaving my numbers behind
With people bereft of me
Dialogue with Ganga (Cont.)
Silver ripples on your surface
O Ganga
Rise from the soft tips of your fingers
Playing on taut strings of the sitar
rolling under your waters
over rocks and pebbles
It’s not Raag Bhairavi
*
Gushing waters
Singing seductively to
the naked winter trees
As also, the fully clad
In evergreen foliage
O Ganga, you move on
In time and space
Rhythm and style
Forever arriving
In the arms of the ocean
*
Stillness of trees
Becomes more still
With your gasping waves
O Ganga
You reach the destination
Again and yet again
Till the end of the world
