ON THE SHYNESS OF BIRDS
(From A Meghalaya Travelogue)
In that shiver of leaves, a certain
caution lives. It is a thought
as precise as suspicion. Then,
inside the gaps
linking rain and dawn, fall
the sure gasp of song. They
are not afraid,
no. Every move covers
the hills, navigates
the clouds. There is escape, quick whip
strokes in the sky, a rustle
of bodies in the scrubs, but
they are never here. Their songs
are shadows. The leaves
are shaken by visitations.
The only verification
is shit.
(Illustration by Avirup Ghosh)
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Nitoo Das is a birder, caricaturist and poet. She teaches English at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. Her first collection, Boki, was published in September 2008.
