© Ajit Ghai
Landscape of Abandonment
Trees have abandoned
their hard-working leaves to the cruel
November winds. The winds pluck the leaves off
one by one. And cold nights let frost
descend upon the shore. The wild
flowers that thrived here
are here no more. And a layer of ice newly formed
on the lake shuts tight
the food cupboard’s door
upon the birds. Migrating birds stop
dropping by the lake when it closes
its heart and door.
