Saturday, November 17, 2012

The silence that can be felt

 ***


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.