Friday, March 2, 2012

Baobab Boulevard


Marching column
of Bush men
boles of brawn, heavily armed
Standing still


here, a lone ranger
'neath tanzanite sky
sinewy twigs tracing territory
'tween Eon and Earth


there, mother and child
on horseback astride
 Rani of Jhansi on African soil 
Wooden statue of liberty


Siamese twins
sprouting mirror images
limb to limb, trunk to torso
Miracle of Birth


Ballerina arched
in a taut bough
body’s arrow piercing ether
Yogini in supplication


couples copulating
cavorting, contorting
love's lore lost to light
Khajuraho frescoes embodied


Boulevard Baobabs
adorn human avtaar
   in a moving montage to a motorcar 
Tree of Life Incarnate







Note: The baobabs are not spread over Kenya indiscriminately, but are found closer to the plains where there is relatively heavy rainfall. When one travels to Mombasa from Nairobi, by road, one starts seeing the baobabs that stretch for a good 30 kms outskirts of Mombasa.


Also read, "An Ode to Coco de Mer": 
http://padmaja-earthletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/ode-to-coco-de-mer-virgin-forests-of.html

1 comment:

  1. The poem is a tryst to compress a million words worth feelings and experience in a handful, all bundled like the life impregnated and at full term. The obvious unease, anxiety and fear of the primigravida clearly evident. The comparisons between the two ancient civilizations and cultures galore. Just wonderful for those who can understand and an enigma for the rest.

    Cheers,
    Just an Abheet.

    ReplyDelete