(A poem about agricultural waste burning)
HILL FORT KESROLI
By Suraj Bhatia
The good earth was pristine and ready
freshly tilled and dethatched
as we sipped wine on the ramparts of Hill Fort Kesroli
the sun dying over the hills
the husk stacked neatly midfield
We knew later why!
And now the evening filled with music
the sounds of Vaisakhi
as the village folk celebrated the new growing season
What serenity we thought
What a view of neat rooftops
visible from the terrace
And then the mood changed
first the smell of smoke
then the feeling of being surrounded by surreal elements
and finally the music turned almost forlorn
In the distance a black plume went up
and crept across the darkening sky
like a black monster spreading its tentacles
horizontally across the horizon
its branches like arms
choking the earth, the trees, the revelers
accompanied in an hour by many other creatures of similar intent
enveloping the nighttime sky
O Hill Fort Kesroli!
Copyright: Suraj Bhatia, 2018
(An allegorical poem about life during and after covid)
Le Reve
By Suraj Bhatia
I woke up from a dream today!
Robin Redbreast still afloat
On the Washington Hawthorne Tree
The strawberry fields were stark and sun kissed
By Millstone River stream
The Three Amigos barked out loud
To see their passing friends
The Valley of flowers strayed below
Brown heads swaying in the breeze
And Hyon stood like a crossing guard
Proudly, holding up tight
But then I saw the background grey
Forlorn and so sad
Humans pulled up in the lot
Plastics in their hands
I felt the fields go up in flames
The river in a murk
The dogs, they still barked out loud
But more and more in pain
Hyon collapsed with all the muck
Carbon’s footprints impaled
And Robin on her prickly perch
Sat and watched it all !
I woke up from a dream today !
copyright: Suraj Bhatia, 2020
“Was it a vision or waking dream”
-Keats-
We all write to taste life twice,
In the moment and in retrospect.
-Arian Nina-
SHANTI
By Suraj Bhatia
—--------------------------------
(Inspired by The Girl on the 1961 Freedom Riders Bus, Harriet Tubman, Mahatma Gandhi, The Climate Crisis, Ruth Ginsburg, and Shanti - The Hymn for Peace)
—---------------------------------------------
She waited for a single spark
The hopes
The dreams
The fear
A bus ride beckoned large
And Harriet Tubman came to mind
The misery
The despair
The rage
On a train she traveled back
Was Gandhi on a mission true?
The heat
The dust
The masses
And millions on his marches bled
Is Climate change a fleeting fad?
The floods
The fires
The bears
A fight that we must fight!
The constitution was her core
The fights
The friends
The foes
The rest she never had!
Is Shanti really to be had?
The peace
The balance
The stars
A cosmic balance ours to attain!
Dedicated to True Believers Everywhere
By Suraj Bhatia
Copyright: Suraj Bhatia, 2022