Do Not Ask Why
Do
not ask why
When
earth's sky
Becomes
red in shy
And
glows with the touch
From
sun's warmth.
Do
not ask why
When
the flower dances
to
the rhythm of air
Or
the dew drops
Sparkle
on grass blades.
Do
not ask why
the
sea waves
rise
and fall
At
such distance
At
the moon's call.
Do
not ask me
Why
I become tongue-tied
When
you come
To
my sight.
Do
not ask the heart beats
Nor
to the breath
The
cause and meanings
Of
their essence and existence.
Bharati Nayak
How I See The Winter
I
see the Winter
In
the layers of wrinkles
Of
the old woman.
I
see
How
the mist spread
On
river, mountains and fields
and
make them blurred
Like
the vision of her cataract -inflicted eyes.
Cold
wind bites her fragile body
She
holds her walking stick tightly
And
stares blankly
To
the fields,
where
once crops grew in plenty, now
Lying
empty.
Bharati Nayak
The Squirrel
The
little squirrel
Is
jumping from
Branches
to branches
Lifting
its furry tail.
It
is chasing away its friend
And
playing hide and seek
With
my little boy Vicky.
For
them it is jolly time
As
the ripe mangoes are hanging
With
sweet flavor
Wafting
in the air.
They
hop like hope
Some
times near
And
sometimes far
Wonderful
it is to see
How
swift they are
While
climbing the tree.
Sitting
pretty on hind legs
At
the top of tree branches
Eating
the nuts
They
make pretty pictures.
A
squirrel like this
Had
come to Vicky once
Ate
'channas' from his hands
Made
friendship
For
a brief period
And
left beautiful memories
For
my little kid.
Bharati
Nayak
The
Tree
The
tree stands green
Under
the scorching sun
Branches
spread wide
Roots
going deep
Thousands
and thousands leaves
Swaying
their little heads
Colourful
flowers bloom
For
the bees and butterflies they make room
Squirrels
jump dance
From
branches to branches
Monkeys
eat fruits
And
so birds and squirrels
Have
their shares
Underneath
a dog curls up
There
the cows flock to get the shadow
The
tree stands tall like a Rishi(Monk)
With
many hands stretched
Giving
his blessings.
Bharati Nayak
Bharati Nayak
Bharati Nayak,born in the year 1962
,is a bilingual poe, critique and
translator from Odisha, an Indian State lying on its eastern coast. She writes
in English and Odia. Her poems have been published in many magazines, journals
,anthologies and e-books of national and international repute such as Rock Pebbles ,Orissa Review, Utkal Prasang, Creation
and Criticism, Circular Whispers, Nova Literature-Poesis, Poetry Agaist Terror,
56 Female Voices of Poetry,, The Four Seasons Poetry Concerto, Tunes From the
Subcontinent, Amaravati Poetic Prism and the like. She has published
three poetry books-Padma Paada(A poetry book in Odia language) Words Are
Such Perfect Traitors A Day for Myself