The silver lily lifts its tired feet and floats,
as if a prayer by water’s edge,
then rustling in the yellow reeds join and
turn back to the snakeskin bodies
of slinking rivers.
Bushes thriving under hot sun,
will laugh with the wind of curse
behind them,
stones are now free from their places,
eroded and deported far away.
A jungle of concrete will slowly destroy
the spreading roots, seeds, and earthlings,
the animated hymn of birdsong,
There will be no one to carry them
back to their silent, natural way.
© Gopal Lahiri
Picture Nick Victor
Gopal Lahiri is a Kolkata, India, based bilingual poet and critic and published in English and Bengali language. He has published 29 books to his credit and his works are translated in 16 languages. Recent credits: The Wise Owl, Catjun Mutt Press, Dissident Voice, Piker Press, Indian Literature, Kitaab, Setu, Undiscovered Journal, Poetry Breakfast, Shot Glass, The Best Asian Poetry, Converse, Cold Moon, Verse-Virtual journal and elsewhere. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021.
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