LILY
SWARN
I Take This Moment
You
swaddled me as I slumbered in my cot
Soft
maternal folds of cashmere baby blanket in
Rubber
wood, pale almost white
I
sauntered below your sprawling banyan tree
Enclosing,
enfolding, as a father would
A toddler
playing house -house
Amidst
violet petunias and sunny nasturtium
You led
my hand as pencils and paper
from pine
trees in my books, note books
Drawing
sheets where I sketched my crooked ships
And
coloured my streams and mountains blue and green
O Mother
Nature you gave me cotton, silk, wool for my pinafore dresses
Leather
for my shoes squeaky, shiny
Belts of
varied styles, wallets and satchels too
Bountiful
fruits bursting with radiant health
Leaves
green, red, yellow vegetables packed with nutrition
Your
basket nurtured me with luscious tastes and scents
While I
guzzle fossil fuel as Petrol and kerosene
To race
my automobiles on your ample chest
I will
lie on a bamboo pyre tied with jute rope
When I
bid you adieu on shoulders of friends
Logs will
burn to make me ash
I will
pollute you with my rotting smoke
I finally
blend into your dust to dust return
I’m
taking this moment to thank you for your mercies
For I had
neglected a selfless mother like all ungrateful wretches do.
Copyright
Lily Swarn 2.5.2020
Does
She Know?
Does she
even know about it?
This lady
in her cotton sari
Head
demurely covered
Glass
bangles clanking in her wrists
The baby
in a tattered make shift hammock
Tied to
two dusty trees
Hammering
stones by the pavement
Carrying
gravel on her delicate head
Does she
even know that some one
somewhere
in the world is 'Celebrating'
International
Worker’s day'?
The
majestic buildings gleaming with glass windows
Look down
vacantly at her
Her blank
eyes drowning in spectre hollows
She looks
towards the smoggy horizon
And sees
not a single sign of hope
Copyright
Lily Swarn 1.5.2018
The Good Earth
Why
should we look for a heaven beyond
Tennyson’s
brook, gold strewn streams,
aesthetic
formations of monsoon clouds,
When the
good earth stretches
its lithe
toned limbs for us
Each
oxygen rich life breath given freely
Each
glorious sunrise injecting life in creation
Cereals feeding
conglomerations of humanity
Fruits
dangling seductively from verdant green
The alarm
bells ringing loudly
Hark! It
could have been a dirge
Time may
be running out on us
A planet
raped, abused, lynched,
Mobbed,
destroyed, plundered
Wild
animals cowering In fear
Their
habitat getting smaller
Air
emitting toxins, pollutants
Waters
poisonous, cadaver ridden
Pesticides
growing inedible food
O save
our world dear Lord!
Forgive
us our trespasses
Stop us
from staining sins
Keep showering
your mercy
The Good
Earth writhes in pain
Copyright
Lily Swarn 30.4.2020
LILY
SWARN
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