The Jackfruit Tree

The seeds buried, tell the stories of miles.

The ever widening trunk, tells the nourishment of sunshine.

The hands which watered it, got lost over time,

But the fruiting of blossomed buds is a tempting delight.

The courtyard of unfenced walls,

The tall old saints of prosperity stands at the centre of the ground.

A giant, ever growing tree,

Covered with hundreds of jumbo fruits.

The sweet aroma blankets the yard,

Crossing the walls unfenced,

Inviting the sparrows from miles,

To enjoy the treat of joyous sight.

The hundred of jumbo fruits

Plucked couple at times

Travelled every door,

From distant relatives to neighbours next hood.

The summer is about to knock

The rawness of jumbo fruits, is pickle and preserved in jars.

Marinated with rich aromatic spices and floats within mustard oil.

The glowing jumbo pulp poured glee when served with water soaked leftover rice.

The sun started to peak over head,  

And the jumbo fruits started to sweeten it’s cells.

The bees and flies hums their orchestra,

And Palm of children are full with ripen pulp of jumbo delight.

The chain of fifty people would circumference around the tree, as vastness of it is undefined.

The children circle around under it, waiting for the jumbo feast.

The summer afternoon was reserved for this, grandma would equally pied the slices .

The cheerful faces would dig in the ripen jumbo fruit slices, every tongue and belly of village would cherish the taste of the jumbo fruit.

From a aged seed, decades old.

Author- Sonali Gupta
Gumla, Jharkhand, India.

Bio- Sonali Gupta has currently completed Master’s from Centre for English Studies, JNU New Delhi India. She’s a poet from Gumla district, Jharkhand,India.