Sad Flowers

By P Sasikanth

Down the hill,

Under the shady groove,

Where the sun shines seldom

A tiny green shoot rose from the swamp.

Glittering worms

feasting on the dead till then,

looked up and writhed forward to feast.

The shoot was afraid and felt desperate to grow quick.

Bearing the worm bites,

And absorbing the little sunlight,

It grew strong enough

to resist the worms.

Then came the pigs

With their stomping feet

And crunching teeth.

They ate everything

their eyes fell upon.

The little shoot was lucky enough to escape their teeth

but not enough lucky to escape their feet

They stomped it mercilessly,

Leaving his leaves torn and wrinkled

And its tender stems broken and shambled.

Yet it survived,

the only hope to blossom and bear fruit

gave it the strength to live.

With fractured stems

And wrinkled leaves

It failed to grow straight and handsome.

But he went along with grit to blossom

It believed, everything would change

Once the flowers bloom and fruits bore.

Finally, the buds came

with dots and colors.

Slowly they bloomed, like a rainbow.

Their bright colors contrasted the shady groove

The flowers bent back wide

to face the full sky with pride.

Yet, no bee came near to pollinate

The bees complained,

the flowers’ scent stank

And their nectar tasted bitter.

The whole groove laughed

the sunlight mocked

The worms jeered,

and the bees buzzed away.

The pigs came again,

With their stomping feet

And crunching teeth.

Down the hill,

Under the shady groove,

Where the sun shines seldom

The flowers looked infinitely sad,

for one last time

as the pigs came to crunch.

By P Sasikanth