THE HERD

 

-         Neelam Saxena (India)

 

It’s early morning.

The sky is not amber as I would expect.

Everything is smoky, murky, unmoving.

I also wish to return home and doze.

However, I see a flock of parrots passing by.

Soon a lot of crows fly over me.

A cuckoo coos waking me completely

From my silly desire to rest

In the wee hours.

 

I look amazedly at these birds-

No time to halt for arthritis pain,

Can't wait for fever to subside,

Can't stay isolated for Covid!

They live a digital life.

It's either zero or one-

Die or live.

I somehow love to see these digital birds fly

Daily at the same time.

 

Whenever I am transferred

From smaller cities

To the larger ones,

I should be happy, but I am not.

The birds aren't found

In the smog of the cities

Maybe, except some lonely pigeons and crows,

And my inner self becomes frozen.

No more dances of joy.

 

My heart craves for that chance

To stay in a home-

Where peacocks and peahens dance,

Where the parrots and mynahs romance!

 

 

I too, then, can be free as a bird

And not be a part of that

People walking in a herd!

 

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