Summer mis-en-scene

The ber has lost its lustiness

yielded 
to taut, tart

aubergine jamun plum

****

The fruity aroma of cashew

smothers

woody scent of saptaparni

a heady cocktail

****

The bare bombax

sheds

blood red blooms and rosy starlings

silk cotton erupts

****

the cashew apple

steals

the roseate glow

of homebound sun

****

copperpod corsage

captures

sunbeams and sunbirds

showers molten gold

****

in the still afternoon air

nothing moves

the dry, fallen leaves rustle

to wind of cobra

****

the koel insists on cooing

wooing

till my heart melts

in the heat of Indian summer

Haiku Moments in Africa

...in Kenyan urban countryside


has the bougainvillea

tinted the peach blossoms and painted

the sunset sky?

male bronze sunbird  
finds its voice, romances  
the porch mirror


notes float on air

sweet song of streaky seedeater

spoilsport morning chores

faint evening breeze
ferries scent of frangipani
instant aromatherapy!

at the bird bath

birds of different feathers

flock together

at last, the first bud...

alas, falls victim to the gardener's hoe

my poor Allamanda!

at dusk fall

the robin-chat of my mind

melancholy calls

mousebird parties

feasting on peaches

tree of seeds

on my patio

Van Gogh’s blue iris

comes alive

molten mauve

path paved with petal-drops

Jacaranda showers


in the vegetable patch

mousebirds nibble on greens

under the scarecrow

squatting, waiting, warming

fiscal mother breathes life

into her brood

common shrike

chirrs its curtain call

another day gone

at feet patter
butterflies take wing
yellow petals scatter

king-size sunflower head
grosbeak weaver mama and toto
nestle onto a cozy bed

overhead, a kite trills

how can you tell if it is

Kenya or India?

Haiku Moments in Wellington

Wellington is a hill-station and cantonment town sandwiched between Ooty and Coonoor. In my three years of stay here, the place compelled me to live the Krishnamurti (J)-way of life and I feel all the richer for it. Some emotions and experiences cannot be expressed any other way, but poetically. Then too, moments in nature and nature-thoughts lurking deep in the interstices of mind are best captured in haiku. 

cypress canopy

child gazes up at sky

a chiaroscuro

birdsongs -

in the air; the breath…

that keeps us alive?

swirling mist

steals through the air

engulfing the silence

trees in mist

play hide and seek

birds forget to sing!

grey mist

airbrushing the greens

brightens my day

dwarf hills

in the distance; at home

towering cypress

invisible melody

wallowing in anonymity

a shy blackbird

sipping winter frost

tranquility of blue mountains

Mumbai retreats

mocking cock-eyed

amateur gardener in me

a pied bushchat

wine red

dahlia heads… bow

drunk in happiness

windy rain

a peach-laden branch

knocks at the window pane

rains don’t fool

the jacaranda’s abloom

summer is here!

whiff of wind 

shoeflower on floor

born again at temple door 

mist smoulders

chill sets in the bones

heart’s on fire

in a birdhouse

eating bread crumbs

a squirrel pup!

road romeo
eve teasing in Wellington...
why, it’s a whistling thrush!

the bare bough

curves upwards, comes alive

owl branches off

a single bud

agapanthus in violet explosion

florets in bouquet

blue-eyed moon daisy
opens a wink, stretches a limb

wakes up to sunshine

in the hollow

of a tree trunk

life begins!

a glorious day

alas! a hawk mauls a mynah

and flies away…

bells of fuchsia

crown the shrine, quietly, a garland

adorns Gods!

in a shrine

beneath tall eucalyptus

Gods sleep peacefully!