On The Road

The evening pauses at a red light
A man scratches a recharge card with his nails
A cat sits near his feet scratching its ear
He enters the numbers and turns away to talk
Maybe the cat eavesdrops
there is no one else around
The bored cat yawns and then licks its bum
to show its disdain
and disappears into the sunset
No one feels insulted
A green wink and a car whizzes past the scene
the driver absentmindedly scratches his head
thinking of mobiles, cats, waiting wives
and the futility of a life chasing lights
©Reena Prasad

Jungle tale

Let me start
from where you broke off
the bed time tale of a hunter and prey

The fawn in an illusory wood
looks up
A tiny tail-stump quivers

The forests waits
at the edge of a water-hole

Dusk slithers down a tall tree
a gleaming snake-skin hangs there

A distant rumble becomes a roar
the gurgling stream whispers no more

No lilting tune lightens the gloom
A hush of sleep descends on all

Unseen fears nestle in hanging vines
a hungry breath murmurs
down the spine

Hairless palms are suddenly wet
who is the hunter?
who is the prey?

The ape guffaws
he sees stripes
not the polka-dotted flowers

Tawny eyes gleam behind toad-stool huts
a twitching tuft emerges
from undercover

Night has slipped
and fallen in fear
Courage drowns in its black tears

The tiger springs
before you can think
of newer tales to color credulous dreams

©Reena Prasad 18th April 2013

A Dear Friend /Purrspectives

 Today we sat in perfect peace,
I on my easy chair
He on the window sill
Looking out together into the wintery garden
over the pebbles, at the fallen leaves
the burst of marigold sunshine, the guava laden trees
He stares gravely as if contemplating, perfectly still.
I watch his handsome face, wondering what he sees

His eyes give nothing away,
He seems to be smelling the breeze
while watching a butterfly
floating over the lawns at ease
I turn my chair toward him, to secretly read his thoughts.
Cleverer , he turns away as if to foil my plot
Does he wonder about the sun as it plays hide and seek
or accepts it without doubt as part of nature’s decrees? 

Maybe he wonders if I am out of my mind
sitting indoors though the weather is fine.
He bears with my every flaw, ever benign.
never going far, though I am rude sometimes
Do I live with him or does he live with me
An austere face, that stately walk- no less than any prince
Dignified and calm, his feline charm,
always soothes my hurt
A twitch of his tail, his ears go up, he crouches down, alert! 

He sees a bird, I know
his inborn instincts keeping time
One of us is a poet-which one?
but together, our days do rhyme.
©Reena Prasad  22nd Nov 2o10
Published in ‘THE PURRFECT ANTHOLOGY ” By Lost Tower Publications On 14th Nov 2014 . LINK HERE