Parrot Song

By Urvish Lodha

sweet summer palms sway

smoothly as the parrots keep

screeching to my face

patiently waiting as though

for a green almond leaf to turn red

breath cannot let go

wet as the showers.

the sky is dripping orange juice,

and I’m still waiting in this summer heat

although downcast at these drenched leaves

with no music left to draw.

dogfight barks

a crack in the old sky—

the factory has let go

its shutters clanging

the radio and television

clatter with all the world’s sound

but, ears peeled

I sit and seek music from this sky.

till, with the bend of the wing

and the lift of the beak,

I have it:

balancing on the blades

of a palm frond

Urvish Lodha

zygodactyl braced-

takes of , headstrong

into parrot song

salty, squeaking parrot song

sweet summer palms sway (ay!)

smoothly as the parrots keep (shriek!)

screeching to my face (ace!)

~

o, I was twelve, watching the flock flutter across the sky.

By Urvish Lodha