On either side the woods, in the middle the road <br />Gleamingly goes winding as nature beats the tune. <br />In the night-light, every now and then eyes glow, <br />young rabbits jump across dancing. <br />I have seen in the palasha bushes on rounded hillocks <br />Wild peacocks' Kathak in sudden joy, <br />By the shady tent on the golden sitar of the stream <br />I have counterpointed its grace. <br />They come in silence to the riverbank and lap their drink <br />I've heard the fawn-call of the Sindhumuni. <br />There goes the panther in greedy violent steps <br />Rousing the entire Kathakali temple of wild life <br />Where are the woods gone? Yet there are no settlements, <br />Only the bare plains, only the howl of the dry wind. <br />The jungles all cleared off, the villages dead, the critics <br />yet to be founded and the peacocks stuffed into commodities <br />Why in this land is man dumb and helpless? <br />Why are rivers, trees, hills so unimportant? <br />How long do we run about carrying our tents? <br />When does the alien set up his own home?<br /><br />Bishnu Dey<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-alien-3/
