Have you been to Alleppey? Seen the
limpid serene green liquid host
poetic boats that converse
with adjoining palms, did you see
how calm the villages are
They don’t chase time
like you or me and they still eat
fresh their catch.
When darkness falls like a blanket,
over orange margins of this verdant frame, have you stayed in the houseboat
observing stars, absorbing lunar radiance and
reveling in the concert
of crickets and howling animals
mingled with the spritz of your own host and
tell me honestly, do you still
miss the metallic clunk
shrieking pitches of your
discordantly popular rock and bass?
As you look out of your window
snatching moments of precious recluse
do not forget to tell me
if it is indeed love rekindled
by virtue of the ‘right ambience’
assorted in your package of four nights and three days that
assures unearthing landscapes as much as unfolding facets
of your known and unknown
Tell me about the taste of westerly winds
seized through a mouth agape,
of early monsoons and their mud so fresh,
the mist sprayed that floats almost eternally
over Venice-esque canals
and brine of shores awash with cast nets.
And when you’re back
you have to let me know
if you lost a part of you in the swamps;
and never found it back-
left floating agog in the backwaters
or dangling delicately on the wild tendrils
or stuck in your houseboat’s crack;
– you know, I have never been to Alleppey
but at once I will go and search.