***
The Quiet of Trees
The trees listen, unmoved and all
present
as orioles and sunbirds
court and duel
songs and jungle
rooster crows
a spurring morning
alarm
crickets choir
in the undergrowth
a mother boar scours the grounds
with her young ones
for worm
or ripe fruit lost
to the grips of monkeys
play-chasing above
on shaky branches.
The trees listen, unmoved and all
present
a monsoon storm is coming:
bloated grey clouds
bringing drums and crackers.
Whipping sea winds
rip through the forest --
stir, shake and push,
snapping weak wood.
Let fall
warm drops of rain,
and pour forth rivers!
The birds
are hushed now.
The trees listen, sway in the storm and all
present.