Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 5, Number 1. May 2022. ISSN: 2581-7094
A
Poetic Pentad
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| Image courtesy: dreamstime.com |
1.
Dog’s Loyalty
They
get very little food to eat
Water
to drink if available in public pots.
If
little food is given out of leftovers
Their
matchless loyalty ensured.
Seeing
you they wave their tails
or
follow you wherever you go.
I
see them sleeping very little.
They
are always either on the run
or
barking at the intruders.
I
wonder where they get
their
indefatigable energy from.
Could
they lend this energy
to
my infirm and unsteady nerves?
2.
A Thirsty Cow
Some
philanthropic person
poured
water in the open cement tanks
kept
near the road
for
animals and birds to drink.
A
tired cow went from one tank to another
to
drink water but was greatly
disappointed
finding the tanks empty.
My
friend, supposedly animal lover,
was
watching the spectacle
with
keen interest but his heart
did
not move to make the water
available
to the deprived cow.
3.
Camel Festival of Bikaner
‘Why
did you force me
to
perform the acrobatic feat
with jingling bells and
anklets
tied
to the hind legs?
Why
did you push me in
the
furnace of competition?’
said
the camel to the riders.
‘My
dance on the wobbly structure
won
you an award
and
accolades to me.
Pride
appeared in your shining eyes
but
shattered my soul
in
your celebration of cruelty.’
4.
A Street Dog
He
sits on the grass
spreading
his limbs carelessly
not
worried about food or water;
observes
the passing traffic indifferently.
Sometimes
rests his head on the grass
pretending
to sleep in a yogic posture.
But
then comes a toddler frolicking;
pulls
his tail playfully.
He
waves his tail lovingly
expecting
some food to partake.
But
when the toddler’s mother
throws
a stone at him
he
gallops away.
5.
A Slothful Cow
She
will stand all day doing nothing,
sometimes
parallel, sometimes horizontally.
She
wouldn’t take pains even to graze
the
grass growing under her feet.
Even
the fellow cows grazing fail to motivate her.
If
a philanthropist feeds her with biscuits
or
bread she would gulp them greedily.
You
can see her moving a bit when thirst
pulls
her to the water tank.
After
a drink, she keeps standing there
for
a long time. One wonders what she keeps
thinking.
Or does she ruminate over how
she
can improve the fate of fellow homeless cows?