The clock ticks away the time

As the day exhausts itself

Into  the dreary noon.

Somewhere the overhanging clouds

Slide down the sky

to watch the temper

of the  day

No animals walk the street

No birds fly in the sky

The nests on the branches

Cuddle them inside…

The stony bark

holds them strongly

the steady leaves

outstretch themselves

lest the wind

dismantles their ‘haven’.

Somewhere the river in flood

has washed away

the poor , their hutments

their life a pathetic sore

the angry waves

rise… rise and rise

higher and higher

Some brave

Waddle their canoe, their lifeboats

Upon the violent waves

Carrying away their dreams….

Their hopes for the morrow….

                                                   ~Shobha Diwakar   

                                                   Jabalpur, India