In the soothing shade of a giant banyan tree,
Whose mighty boughs stretch as far as one can see.
Its prop roots countless, reach the ground
And an ancient arch, they fondly surround.
“Good morning sir, the sun is high.”
“Don’t I know?” comes the arch’s glum reply.
“Creaking souls can hardly sleep,
At every dawn, I watch the sun peep.”
“The birds return on their day’s last flight.
Their din stirs up the fading light
Then silence grips this desolate land,
Across the night, awake I stand.”
“In the dusk the jungle comes alive,
Emerge the creatures that in darkness thrive.
Glow worms with their flitting light,
A pair of shiny eyes piercing the night.”
“The crickets’ chirps, the hoots of the owls,
A slaughtered deer’s moans and the jackals’ howls,
The hiss of the serpents, the quiet of the slush,
Abruptly, the jungle comes to a hush.”
“Gazing at the stars, shimmering in the sky,
Gazing at the moon, lazily sailing by,
Listening to the sighs of restless souls
And the slurping sounds at the watering holes.”
“But better days have I seen my boy.
Oh, those were the times of merriment and joy.
Here I stood tall, strong and wide,
As armed sentries guarded on either side.”
“Beautiful carvings beyond compare
That never failed to invite an admiring stare.
Atop fluttered the flag of the land
I was a sight so stunningly grand.”
“Kings led armies marching through my portal
A magnificent sight to behold for any mortal,
To a war in a distant land to fight,
With their swords glistening in the morning light.”
“Glorious in victory as they returned
The leaping flames of the torches burned.
Most had arrived, but some had died,
In joy I smiled and in sorrow I cried.”
“People would come from far and wide
On foot; in carts; on horses astride.
Some came to work and some to trade,
As way into the town they slowly made.”
“Thus passed the days, so pleasant my dear,
Who could have guessed, that the end was so near.
Out of the blue, on a moonless night,
The sleeping town was struck by the enemy’s might.”
“I stood in tatters, the first to be struck,
The unwary defenders soon ran out of luck.
House after house in every street,
Were set afire and throats were slit.”
“Heart wrenching wails pierced the skies
And the air was heavy with painful sighs.
Soon it was over; there was hardly a fight,
Blood flowed like water, flames singed the night.”
“The enemy berserk, laid bare the state
Hardly a man or a house stood straight.
Vanquished thoroughly and razed to the dust
The land was lost to a consuming gust.”
“As the sun rose in its crimson band
People in droves left the ravaged land.
Their faces ashen, their mournful cries
The town was dead before my eyes.”
“Slowly the land, where people once thrived
Turned to a ghost town where none arrived.
Darkness reigned where lights once shone
Amidst the ruins I have been standing alone.”
“Years have passed and jungles dense
Have grown around, with trees immense.
Where people once lived, now wild lives thrive
The greenery around has kept me alive.”
“A little bird once had dropped a seed,
Right in the midst of some overgrown weed.
The tiny seed ruptured and you broke free,
Today you stand a magnificent tree.”
“Where once stood an arch, majestic and grand
Shed off it flesh, does a skeleton stand.
Hidden in the midst of overgrown greens
Once so proud, but now in ruins.”
The tale of splendour from another age,
Since disgraced by foe’s rampage.
Patiently heard the banyan tree,
As sunlight left, to set the dark free.
The moon was pale as clouds flew
by
And gradually covered the black, night sky.
A gentle breeze gathered in strength,
Howling through the jungle’s length.
Moments before when all looked fine
Suddenly took an ominous sign.
Creatures ran for every tree
As nature’s fury was all set free.
Leaves and dust flew madly around
The mighty storm bent trees to the ground.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared
Rain in wayward gushes poured.
Such was heaven’s stormy might
Neither was a sound, nor a movement slight.
The roars, the hisses, the chirps, the moans
Were numbed to silence by turbulent groans.
Trees uprooted and animals dead
Across the jungle, the mayhem spread.
A mango tree that had stood its ground
Came crashing on the arch with a thudding sound.
The frail light announced a new day’s birth
Droplets from the leaves hit the sodden earth.
Amidst the sounds of chirps and tweets
The ancient arch lay scattered in bits.
The jungle let a heaving sigh
At the mayhem in the night gone by.
Life revived through feeble heartbeat
As history lay strewn at the banyan’s feet.
Teardrops did the banyan leaves shed
On a longtime friend presently dead.
Then he was there and now no more
No one to tell the tales of yore.
The tree stood strong, but its heart did bleed
The pain too deep for others to read.
The prop roots lovingly guarded the ruins
That lay in peace amidst the greens.
“No one will hurt you, no one will scar
Long have you travelled through peace and war.
For every beginning, there is an end
Rest in peace, my ancient friend.”
Once a kingdom, ruled by a crown,
In its place stands a modern town.
Long has vanished the untamed green,
The streets are straight and sparkling clean.
A little afar from this modern land,
The banyan however, still does stand.
Myriad birds on its boughs still perch,
Its base is paved with stones from the arch.
Nests are built in its cosy breast,
In its cool shade, passersby rest.
People leave and more arrive,
