Rain in the Wild
A poem by Gopal Lahiri

Rain in the Wild
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self……John O Donohue

Everything outside envelopes into bottle green
a distant land on the opposite bank glows
into the light of a township,
old memories creep on silhouettes,
waiting for someone to come and rewrite this.

Narmada river carries sacred memories
water overflows the cottage doors,
the yellow mist rubs its skin on the window panes.
the treatment plant hides three grasshoppers,
but the weather is abysmal.

No fisherman around, no painted boats either
A tiny parrot, happy, tail into the wind.
Her voice trembling the twigs and branches,
I know her by heart,
As she sinks and as she rises.

I long to get wet under the grey clouds,
a selective drop of rain on my palm breathes sentence
that descends from the sky.
murky light slips away from the Palm’s head.
smell of fried fish and prawn fill the air.

I listen to rain, call red hibiscus by name,
let me be this unguarded always
speaking without the need of words
because breath is the oldest language
in this remote village green of Jhanor.

*Jhanor is a village adjoing Narmada river in Bharch district of Gujarat.

About the Author:

Gopal Lahiri is a bilingual poet, critic, editor, writer, and translator with 29 books published, (10 books in Bengali and 19 books in English) including six solo/jointly edited books and two joint books. His poetry and prose are published across more than 60 anthologies as well as in eminent journals of India and abroad. His poems are translated in 16 languages and published in 12 countries. He has been nominated for Pushcart Prize for poetry in 2021, He has received Setu Excellence award, Pittsburgh, US in poetry. His latest collection of poems ‘Alleys are Filled with Future Alphabets.’ has received Pan Asian Ukiyoto awards.

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