No cause

The invisible wind moves visibly

Through the tree like a shy bird

That wants to hide but cannot

The pair of mynahs fly away in

A flash of brown, white and yellow

Partly seen and partly remembered

The eyes follow them till they vanish

It is still misty and cloudy and the sun

Can hardly be seen though its light

Filters through and offers warmth 

The body cannot work up enough of

It is now December with just the dew

It is music taking me through green fields

Tomorrow welcoming me on the horizon

The pastoral flute following like a butterfly

A calendar year may be coming to a close

Yet time flows without a pause or cause.

Black sun

Water-proof lamps line

The next balcony wall

They glow under the rain

In our house the earthen

Flames exclaim at us for

Not minding death and

Choosing to light them.

In the hillock near my

Native town the festival

Has lit a political fire after

Pyromaniacs descended

Upon it when they came

Looking for new places

To torch with their hatred

The black sun is brighter

When saffron fires spew darkness

It still burns showing the way

Past primitive fears to a new day.

At someone's pleasure

It is already December and time

To pay another month's bills

Despite the rain the greens seller

Is out hawking the produce at

Reduced rates hoping his regular

Customers will still venture out 

He must envy those who don't have to

Make a living under weeping skies

Fishermen south of us are setting out 

Across seas only just coming out of

A slow-moving cyclone that vented

Its wrath on the neighbouring island

A distant volcano erupted after being

Dormant for over ten thousand years

The earth under my feet doesn't move

What is happening miles underground

May be scary and unable to forecast

The tree across the street gently sways

We all survive at someone's pleasure.

Mango tree

The rain has quietened to a drizzle 

Above the intermittent traffic noise

The electric saw's groan is heard

Within an hour half the mango tree

Has been cleared for the scaffolding

Needed to raise more floors for the

Corner building crying for more space

Even without the cyclone's landfall 

A neighbourhood has lost greenery

Some shade and many birds displaced

Without that cover summer would be

That much harsher this year and if

There are no more copious showers

Even the muse may choose to be silent.

Apocalypse

The break in the rain suddenly turned on

A twilight that lightened our dark skins

So much that we looked at one another

Approvingly in the mirror as after make-up

For a moment as racist as the rest of them

The yellow haze passed with dark clouds

Moving in and the showers turned heavy

Everytime we looked the street lamps were

Shedding tears and it looked as if someone

Somewhere had forgotten to turn taps off

What if the skies never stopped pouring

What if the sea and the wind kept feeding

The cyclone and it kept on and on and on

What if this is the beginning of the end

With these fears swirling sleep took over

And when the day broke the sun wasn't out

But the city was still afloat, the traffic slow

The apocalypse held back for another day