Red Hat Visitor
Our relation goes back
To several years back
He first visited us
During the snowy January
He was on an urgent mission
They had to find a house
Insulated from the cold
Snow and predators
An abandoned maple tree
Was their lucky find!
Besides soft dry wood
It provided nourishment for their young
My association goes back
To many years
I saw them in our village
Right across our class room
In the bushes of acacia
In the village farmers market
I looked at their vivid colors
Their soft feathery coats
In the hands of hunters
We would call ‘em
Carpenter Bird – vadrangi pitta (వడ్రంగి పిట్ట)
Or vadla pitta (వడ్ల పిట్ట) (as in the movie, Ankur)
I feel as though
This home, here, in the suburbs
Is like the Ashram of Kanva rishi
Of the fabled Sankuntalam
A most sensitive creative play of
The Great Kalidasa
What do I lack here?
Except a lion and a peacock
I have everything here
In my modest woods around the house
I have many avian, reptiles, two hoofed
Seen the bluebird, cardinal, woodpeckers
Chickadees, squirrels, chipmunks,
An occasional garter snake
But the pileated woodpecker
And a humming bird
Captivated our attention
Once a baby deer rested
Near the wall, enjoying the cool shade of big maple
Then, during a heavy downpour
A shivering raccoon needed
A dry sheltering place
Under the front porch
We’ve grown accustomed
To all these gentle creatures
Though we never feed them
Nothing, no special food
Never petted them
They all enter the front porch
And
The deck in the back
And several avian friends
Made nests in the evergreen trees
Beneath the deck
We watched newly hatched
Chickadees, starlings, doves, squirrels
Life just flourishes all around
Then, there is the ever flowing
Boisterous cataract, barely visible
From our bedroom window
A cool shade, protected tall trees
Spacious woods, and water all around the year
What more do they need?
Plenty of hawthorn berries, maple seeds
And nutritious wild walnuts
Pine seeds and flowers
Need you ask for anything more?
All this I (we) get to see,
Share, and enjoy
From our lovely home
I need no nature retreats
No hiking trips to the Adirondacks
It is as though we are blessed
A pleasant early morning
Bird call, a late evening chirping
A midsummer’s cacophony of
Crickets in the afternoon
They remind me
“Enjoy, meditate on all this
Abundance of life”
I cannot imagine a more
Harmonious coexistence of living beings Copyright 2021 by the author
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