The mountains adorned their cloudy veil.
White and pristine.
Down the valley they came to greet,
dancing in a flowing grace,
for it had been too long since our last meet.
Walking softly thru the heavenly gates
Gently caressing me; in no haste.
Day quickly turned to night.
Veil was lifted. No sky in sight.
The mountains now wore their sullied dress.
Black. All quiet and morose.
With a sudden crash the rain gods came charging.
Fierce and furious, on their dark horses.
They stormed and ravaged.
With their cunning weaponry they made the sky shake
And slit it open.
Like mad kings flinging sluice gates of hell.
The wind howled and the heavens cried.
Wailing like young mothers.
Rain gushed down on the tiny tin roof of my mountain cottage.
Hammering down; badgering, to give in.
Tonight there is no sleep to be had.
My fears, real and imagined.
Arise from their deep slumber
I shut tight my eyes to drown out their menacing face.
Praying incessantly for the relentless rain to stop.
For the rain Gods to take their battle elsewhere
Farther into the snowy peaks of the Himalayas
Where no beast nor man sleeps.
To the abode of mighty Shiva.
He will surely reason
Or else scare them out of their wits.
But no prayer or curse
Makes them change their mind.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The morning brings in no hope
An even wetter day.
The noise grows louder and vengeful.
This cottage in this remote village was not built
To withstand their waging wars.
Nor I inbuilt with the courage to endure.
The city girl I had become
Had lost the resilience of my people.
I had forgotten and forsaken their daily strife.
Cynicism and criticism had taken root in the darkness of my
heart.
Just yesterday as I walked down the village market
I had remarked at the uninspiring and insipid village life.
The lack of courage ,boldness to try something new.
Yet I sought solace here when it pleased.
To be close to “nature”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I stare at the angry October sky
Knowing that nature is neither kind nor fair,
It gives freely but it demands
respect that we snatch away from her.
This relentless rain, neither nature nor natural.
It was indeed the devilry of mankind
Created in factories and machines.
To race against time, create ways to speed against time.
Highways i had taken to beat
the traffic and paid toll fee.
Fast roads and fast cars,
fast lanes built to fill up coffers.
Plundering ancient mountains.
Killing trees, scaring their birds and
beast
Nature- well that is what had taken the toll.
................................................................................................................................................................
The weatherman calls for
a Red warning
torrential rain are sweeping
the mountains away.
But if I am swept away
and gone,
under the slush and
stones,
Don’t look up on heavens
in blame,
‘cause the fault lies
Somewhere close.
Closer to home.
Anubha Mamgain
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