Stock taking

Once in a while on an autumn morning,
Take a walk.
Look up at the shady trees,
Smile at the dogs passing by
Gawk at the high rises
Cast a kind glance
At the rag picker staggering by.

Pause for the passing car
Gaze at the pretty lass
Look kindly at the world
Rushing by.

Winter will be here soon.
On an autumn morning
Take a walk
Taking stock of your life.

******
Balan strolling along. @ Indira Nagar, Bangalore. 5. 11. 2018

Jesus Bug Meets its End

Row, row, row
Up and down and right and left
Row, row, row
On the water with my legs
Row, row, row
Back and forth, forth and back,
Row, row - oh! oh! oh!
Oh bother, bro!
Strike me dead, am stuck in mud,
Ow, Ow, Ow!!!

********

Jesus Bug aka Water Strider, Wherever there is water.

Balachandran V, Silent Valley, 28.04.2018.

Resident Fairies

My home, oasis in the middle of concrete desert.

'Still at the old house?', they ask me -
Little do they know I am so proud and smug
That I live in the hand- me-down decrepit
Where my grandmother and other ghosts linger.

I see them; there he is, my father, hopping down
From the coconut frond to nibble the leftover rice
There she is, my mother, the bossy Jungle Crow
Trying to edge out the squirrel.

Grandmother comes in the evening, hooting,
Espying from behind the tree leaves
Muttering to herself, uttering inaudible curses
At me, her grandson, that impractical dreamer.

They are all there, cousins and aunts
Maids and men, children and dogs.
They come as they wish,
 As fairies and birds and butterflies.

Later, when the sun goes down
I hear them, flitting in and out
Silently, like flickering memories
In and out, of my old mango tree.

Who you might be, pretty Jay,
Quietly sitting, looking at me?

********* . Balachandran V . Trivandrum. 01.05.2018

Common Jay ( Graphium doson), @ home, Trivandrum 01.05.2018

Lord Toad

Why do you, Toad, look at me

So impassive, so self-assured? 

You sit - no, squat on all your fours

your warty skin, wrinkled and ridged

Your glands swollen with poison -

Think I didn't know?

Go forth, be not afraid of me! 

Go forth and procreate!

For you and your kind, here - 

A blade of grass, a dried leaf

A twig to play with -

The shade of the great trees - 

And over there, Kunthi, for your children!

****** . Balachandran V. Trivandrum 01.05.2018

Amor sans Frontiers

Do, do, do do, do
Do look, do, into my eyes
Croo, Croo, Croocroo, Crukcroo, croo
Croon me to sleep, my little love!

Don't you see me nodding my head
Bobbing my head up and down?
I too am an Owl, just like you
I too am a bird of skies so blue!

Don't you hear me flapping my wings
Don't you see me soaring in the sky?
Croo, Croo, Croocroo, Crukcroo, croo
Croon me to sleep, my little love!

How lovely it'd be to hold you close! 
To caress your fluffy ball of a head
To rub my nose on your beaky beak! 
To look into your eyes and kiss them close!

Don't you see me , little Owl, 
Don't you feel that I am you? 
Croo, Croo, Croocroo, Crukcroo, croo
Croon me to sleep, my little love!

***** . Balachandran V, Trivandrum 10.04.2018

Barred Jungle Owlet, Owlet-in-Residence.

Blue and Black

Among a cradle of leaves

A frog sits facing away from me.

Green leaves, touched with faint morning dew. 

The brook by the side is dry.

A butterfly flitters, faint beats of the wing

Ruffle the leaves.

No flowers, no drip of water drops.

Even the wind is still. 

I peer among the bushes

Vainly for a glimpse of a damselfly

Blue and black, who should be here.

I, the man, who beat everything 

Blue and black. 

**** Balachandran V, Trivandrum. 21.03.2018