Welcome back to Day Eleven at NaPoWriMo. It’s alphabet ‘J’ at the A to Z Challenge. The prompt for today is to write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet or the various contenders for the honor of being the Biggest Ball of Twine.
This one made me think…a lot. So many of those big things, big animals, towers, a big life, big troubles and big love. Finally, I settled for a big forest!
Almost into Day 12 now, here is my offering, tentatively titled ‘the big JUNGLE’.
****
The forest behind my childhood home was big,
and big were the twenty deodars
I counted on my little fingers,
when I started to do numbers.
***
There also grew a not-so-big walnut tree
in very close proximity. Together they housed
the big langurs and the monkeys
chattering about their winter woes,
sunning and nitpicking their daily chores.
***
Then there were the tangled bushes
I often made my way through,
wild blossoms in big clusters
along a twisted pathway grew.
And perched upon my window sill
I sometimes spotted the birds of hills,
twittering and tweeting from summer to spring.
***
When the winds in the forests blew,
swishing and swooshing
they went hoo-hoo-hoo.
The sounds of the jungle
I carried in my heart
when I started for a city
bright and smart.
***
A new road has come up
in my childhood home now,
the big jungles gone, the deodars torn.
The monkeys and langurs
are city-dwellers like me,
birds trying to figure out
this mystery.
Winds find no trees
to trap them in,
their swooshing turned
to quiet murmuring.
They say a BIG shopping mall is in the offing.
***
Inspired by my life in the hills and the nature writing of Ruskin Bond. This post is part of BlogchatterA2Z
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Sonia, this is such a lovely piece of writing. I don’t know if I should say it was beautiful coz it brought back fond memories or it’s sad that it brings forth the reality.
The forests behind my childhood home was what made my home, a home and today when I see them all replaced by concrete structures, it pains. It feels like being alienated.
Thank you for making me walk down the memory lane; the forest wafts stay packed in every cell to come alive through reminiscence, I guess:)
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I’m glad you could connect with this poem.
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The curse of urban development.
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Pinched my heart. And it pinched my heart all the more when I saw a metaphor here Sonia… Childhood innocence as jungle where everything was in harmony, the mall is the all weathered cosmetic adulthood and the road as an ‘ego’.
Your poems are not only evocative but thought provoking as well. Kudos.
PS: Big ball of Twine was something I had never heard about. Thanks for the link, I could satiate my curiosity!
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Thanks Anagha. I was wondering no one pointed it out. Thank you for reading it so well.
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The last line broke my heart.
I’ve seen this big “progress” destroy the idyll we (you and I) were once a part of– again and again for the sake of commerce and it breaks my heart.
Thank you for penning it down so beautifully.
There are so many lines I’d pick as my favourite. But this : “Winds find no trees
to trap them in,” haunts.
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Breaks my heart so much Arti. In Shimla there are places that have not a single tree left. It’s house on top of house over an entire hillside.
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Sounds idyllic and I hope it stays that way. A big NO to the big shopping mall.
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I know but it isn’t the same anymore. Thanks Kalpana.
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What a shame to see to see those trees come down! As Joni Mitchell sang, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.”
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It is Liz. Very heart breaking. In India we harbour the desire to own several houses and with our kind of population construction is really over the top.
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I can only imagine.
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So sad and yet so beautiful. When I was in Dehradun, we used to live near 2 litchi baugs. We weren’t supposed to walk through them because of bees. God I hope their land has not been reclaimed to build another house.
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I hope so too Suchita. My husband belongs to Dehradun. It’s become so crowded and haphazard with all the construction.
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Such a sad fact of life no? all our green covers and majestic trees torn down to make temples of capitalism
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Yes. Tell the capitalists and they will give you several reasons why you mustn’t worry.
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I hope you got my comment Sonia.
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Love this lyrical trip down memory lane, Sonia.
Takes me back to my good ole’ childhood days cradled in the lap of nature.
“Winds find no trees
to trap them in,
their swooshing turned
to quiet murmuring.”
Sad reality that we have created for ourselves, and for us to undo.
https://natashamusing.com/2022/04/bee-positive-wednesday-wisdom/
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Yes for us to undo. This! Thanks for stopping by Natasha.
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Totally Sonia, my pleasure.
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Exactly what i thought when I saw rapid urbanization in hyd…..upsetting to see greenery gone and forests dying. But we won’t stop would we ;( i wanna write on this too some day….very well written
Dropping by from a to z http://afshan-shaik.blogspot.com/
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Will look forward to your piece Afshan. Thank you.
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Oh it ended on a sad note but it’s a lovely composition! I love twisted pathways and jungles.
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Thanks Tarang💐
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A new road has come up
in my childhood home now,
the big jungles gone, the deodars torn
Such powerful lines Sonia! Thank You for sharing!
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Thank you Damyanti. So kind of you . You are one of the very few mainstream, published writers who makes me believe in humility and kindness.
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