Deluge*

Vulture

You will be terrified of this deluge

Not seasoned in fine weather.

You will be daunted by this display

Of gaiety and indulgence.

Were you a migratory bird

That sweeps over the mountains

To learn about other climates,

Places of abundance and mirth,

You could have saved the shock.

This is not your place, my dear,

Fly off. Not here, not here.

Vulture

You cannot terrify the lizard

That slithers out of its skin every year.

You cannot gather the flavor

Of smoke before fire.

You can no longer linger over

Matter that regenerates itself.

Were you my friend in good and strife,

Were you a travelling partner in life,

You could have deserved

A beautiful favour.

But no. Not here. Not here.

poem by Anuradha Bhattacharyya: Deluge

first published in The Wagon Magazine, March 2016