The Chatter

By Geethanjali Dilip

I choose a tough trail this time

Laboured breath making its own music

To vibe with the still of the forest still murmuring

Trees are ascetics sending out their thoughts

Through the rustle of foliage

That thought keeps me rooted to the slope

Where I pause to catch my breath

Song birds are hopes that take to wings and soar directionless

Poetry always begins like that

I see a boulder and realise it’s a vantage point

Today the forest chatters away about people in its density

Talking about the impending monsoon

The breath of a myriad heads send out amaranthine mist

Merging with the setting sun, mingling with the smog of civilisation

I think to myself how much solitude could carry its own music,

Away from the chatter of people talking and speaking all at once

But even that is music if one listens carefully.

By Geethanjali Dilip