The sky studded with white puffy clouds
Boast of overpowering the sky
Shyly retreating into the background for awhile
The burning rays smolder the earth and the sky
As the birds, hastily retreat into the background
Hiding behind the cottony spools of cloudy vapors
The temporary shelter rests their tired spirit
As they resume their flight towards the burning earth
To drop and slip into the green branches that hold their nests
Night draws out the fugitive moon
And studs the sky with twinkling stars
That brighten and lighten the cumbersome day
Exhausted men, women and children
Knock the doors of the past
When nature, surrounded with love and beauty
Hooked ones’ eyes and captivated the senses
Now here and there, lie dead trees… motionless
Wounded to the core
Bruised and mutilated bleeding and weeping
The dried up salty tears mark the cruelty of man
Ignorant of the fate
Nature, now disenchanted lies dull
Its natural beauty exhausted and marred
It does not curse man
It sheds tears of sorrow
At the disheveled world man lives in
And has cast a spell
The same that the witches had cast for Macbeth
~Shobha Diwakar
Jabalpur, India