Summer Poem by Saroj Padhi

Summer has barged in like a bully
elbowing out the flimsy, fumbling Spring,
drying up all sources of water
for many making drinking water a dream,
plumping fruits and nuts in vines and trees
but stealing hues from flowers that look dim
like brides after first few nights of union,
to suffer boredom and chores' severe sting;

Summer has set in with foggy mornings
deserted noons, sultry afternoons,
windy evenings and nightmarish nights,
with dehydrated, sighing rivers
and steaming oceans in seasonal swoons;

with miles of unguarded forests on fire,
with its heat stifling all bodily desire,
with a mad Sun scorching helpless leaves
and farmers' long hours at binding sheaves;

with songs strained up in koels' thirsty throat
inside borrowed nests by heat overwrought,
burnt-up wings of butterflies plummeting to earth
to avoid further burn,
petals sweating under a glaring Sun
and downward taking their sad turn;

like a wilted leaf on greying grass I sit on
to my dream of pink Palash, still clinging on
despite every act of cruelty on this earth,
to the fading petals of peace still holding on!