The Unseen

The silence of the night

The droplets of rain

Dripping from the leaves

The moon feels shy

Hides behind a cloud

A dog whines somewhere

At the end of the alley

A car passes by

Its headlights throwing

A weak patch of light

On the pitch dark roads

Long way to go till

The arrival of dawn

I sit in my lawn

Encircling a white bungalow

Now stilled in slumber

Everyone's gone to bed

Only I am alone, awake

A drape on a window

Shivers in the soft breeze

And an owl wails

Plaintively on the old, Peepal tree

I clutch the white shawl

And let my mane slide down

My fragile boned back

A song comes to mind

Heard ages ago

I hum with a smile

A bleak light burns

In the hut further down

By the running stream

I tread thither along

Somebody passes by

An old hunched man

Stooped on a stick

Chanting the holy name

I swoosh by like the

Flowing, whispering wind

On invisible wings

Leaving a thin trace

Of mist behind

A swish of silk

And the holy chant

Echo in the green

 

Valley beyond...