Latha Prem Sakhya - Lonely Plight

You came into my open veranda
And perched on the hook jutting out.
Glimpsing your ruffled feather
Pity assailed me.
Thinking you were too young
To be out on a stormy night
I bid you goodnight silently.
And moved away without disturbing you.

But the next twilight I saw you
Silently gliding in
And settling comfortably for the night.
The next even tide
Sure enough you were there.
Your sleek handsomeness;
Your assured flight and self-possession;
Your encroachment upon my privacy;
Irritated me. This corner,
And the lonely twilights were mine alone.
Your silent presence and your cocksureness
Disturbed my serenity.

I tolerated you for one week.
I didn’t want you to reinforce
My loneliness with your solitary presence.

So the next morning, I removed the hook,
Now sure- that you will find a perch elsewhere
Or fly back to your own nest,
Where she waited for you
With her fledglings
And I could forget your lonely plight.

Latha Prem Sakhya

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