Magenta gulbaxis/ Blooming beneath/ Monsoon skies.
Filigree patterns/ Of "Chinese lanterns”/ (Hibiscus for the grownups!)
Twittering sunbirds/ Flitting in and out/ Of a moonbeam bush/ Laden with star-flowers.
Parijat trees/ Raining pearly blooms/ Spreading orange-flecked carpets/ Beneath them.
Hands working / Endless madhumalati/ Chains — pink, white/ And green.
Listening to mellow/ "Took took tooks”/ Of coppersmiths/ On hot lazy afternoons.
Squeezing "milk”/ Out of spider lily stalks.
Flying to fairyland/ On the back of a kite/ Like Zal on the wings of the/
Simorgh. ABAN MUKHERJI
mukherji.aban@gmail.com