There was a time when the roads were lined

With beautiful mango trees

On either side of the roads were lined

Majestic and bold neem trees

The banyan trees with their masculine boughs

The tender ‘berrow’ trees

Swayed and flowed with the breeze

That rowed them genteelly.

It was a merry sight to see

The cuddled nests and swinging monkeys

From those tremendous trees

The flying world of the birds and bees

Nestled them tenderly

But soon as time outgrew the trend

A burst of population

‘Redeemed’ the land

The roads narrowed the lanes were sore

To walk or tread around

Mushrooms grew anonymously

The roads were drowned with shops

The walking space grew less and less

As the roads belonged to all

Inside, outside everywhere,

The ‘bazaar’ hooked you and growled;

No fear of law, no fear of rules

The roads were swallowed too

Everywhere you looked around

The simple roads were vanished too

The growth of material wealth had devoured

The soul and spirit of man

Everywhere you turned your eyes

The trees had disappeared too

Sometimes cut down to widen the roads

Sometimes to burn the wood

Sometimes for a merry-go-round

To square your table too

The look has changed

The sight has changed

Of my barren town

The birds have flown

From my town to another fairy town

I hear the murmurs the humming tunes

Of the dried up breezy breeze

That cooled the heat that rustled through

The branches of the trees

What now I hear is a mournful cry

If you have ears to hear

Each branch is slashed to pieces hewn

With dried and soaked up tears

The melting fading browned leaves

Now russet, brown and damp

Are writhing wails you do not hear

When you rush and pass them by

These barren roads, these barren trees

If they survive at all

Will forever make you weep?

If you survive them all

                                              ~Shobha Diwakar

                                                   Jabalpur, India