From my collection of poems "Winged Reason" published by Authorspress, New Delhi in 2010.
I am just a Mango Tree;
still an accomplished life;
I’ve fulfilled my Creator’s plan.
Standing like a Himalayan umbrella,
I shelter my student-friends
waiting for the buses.
The Sun can’t wither them,
nor Rain wets them.
Their innocent smiles and laughter;
the lovers' sighs and sobs,
tickle me or make me weep.
When my friend the Wind comes,
I welcome him with myriad hands.
My saviour Sun fosters me;
his rays cook food for me;
I grow and bear fruits for others.
When I blossom, flies kiss me.
My branches are the beds for birds;
cuckoos, crows and mynahs come;
when my fruits are ripe, a feast to them.
Their chirps and songs lull me often;
when night comes they sleep on my lap;
I too sleep standing on my feet.
Nightly breeze and dews caress me;
I drop mellow yellow fruits
to my beggar friend who sleeps beneath.
My God, how happy I feel!
A happiness gained by service alone.
Hark! What’s that boy telling the girl?
“Darling, where shall we wait
when they cut this tree?”
“Dear, why do they cut this tree,
a harbour to hundreds of us?”
“They plan to build a waiting shed here.”
God, what do I hear? Is it true?
‘True, my daughter, I am helpless.’
Can’t they spare me and
build it somewhere else?
Don’t I do them good
as I do to other fellow beings?
Haven’t I feelings and pains
though I bear them mute?
Haven’t I the right to live
as they legally claim here?
God, why is your Man so selfish and cruel?
Why did you create him,
who topples this earth’s balance?
This planet would be a paradise
if you kindly withdraw him.
‘My child, it was a blunder, a Himalayan blunder;
I shouldn’t have created this human species;
But how can a father kill his sons?’
