An owl flew from a mango tree to perch on a telephone pole
It then jumped down and picked up a house gecko
With prey in its clutch as it flew away and disappeared in brushwood,
other critters creaked and raced down the porch wall–
terrified by the shadow of death looming over them a while ago.
From the garden where I was, I saw a detached tail on the dry floor–
wriggling as if it was a living being,
In the night cursed with routine power cut
But splashed with the faint light of waning moon.
Bearing the annoying buzz of mosquitoes and painful bite,
From behind the very tree, I was savouring the glimpse of gibbous giant–
playing hide-and-seek with clouds up in the sky.
While my shaky hands struggled to keep the subject in focus,
I heard a woman’s scream, reverberating as far as it could,
But superimposed by the music of Simple Simple Kanchhi ko…,
a hit number played at high volume in a bachelor party in the neighbourhood
That night dominated by chirping of Jhyaunkeeris (cicadas)–
the insects many have heard of but never seen,
Along with the howl of cold wind.
It was Bimli, an earthborn moon
Probably being beaten up, as a routine, by her drunkard paramour
Or, maybe writhing and screaming in pain if she was in labour
(yet to be completed….)
