Reveries by the Riverside

Reveries by the Riverside

December 15, 2011 Off By Samin Sultana
Along the tranquil waters of the Dhansiri
Patient fishermen huddle beneath
Tattered umbrellas, abloom with flowers
Toiling and sweltering for an ample catch.
At a distance, a frisky lass in a mirror-work skirt
Dry ragged clothes at the river-front.
In the pastel blue sky above
A jade green kite swerves and swoops
Wandering aimlessly in the company of chalky clouds
Floating preetily like great swans.
A mellow and misty haze
Illuminates the wind-ruffled river
Where fleeting colors and patches of light and shade
Drown with the evening’s progress.
Goats tail a young shepherd home
While cows chew cud in a surf green meadow
A boat charts a lonely course
Through the sun-burnt marmalade waters
Which mirror Oaks, Birch and solitary trees
At times dishevelled by the gushing wind.

Words poured in as they sat ruminating
Over sun-warmed corroding boulders
Overgrown with grass, reeds and springy turf
Swathed in the tangerine evening hues
As momentary silences puncuate their untamed laughter.
Somewhere a falling Oak leaf swirl and drift
To the melody of retro tracks
Traversing from a timber-framed cottage
The wrinkled leaf soon kiss the shimmering water
To float and sail in the blue unknown.

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