Lost in the din

The empty path is
Erupting with people
Everyone seems to
Have somewhere where
They belong

Somewhere where

They are going to

The sun erupts
From the treetops
Fills the rooftops with light
The branches

Begin stirring with life

The koel breaks her voice
Against the sky
Even the crow joins in
In the chorus
With a croak
They keep singing, cawing

In unison

Little birds chime in

With their chirps and tweets

Longing for the dream
They dreamt last night
To manifest
In the bursts of flower sprays
That come awake
In the morning dew

Only to confront
The emptiness
Of the bright blind sun
Vacillating to and fro

And day turns to night
The path is bereft
Of people

But the koel still

Searches insistently

For an answer
From the emptiness

The emptiness replies
With silence

The koel is trapped
In her voice
She knows her fate
She will never
Find the answer
To her song
Yet she sings
Piercing the sky
With her cry

The crow croaks

And blinks

And night becomes day
The street begins to fill again
With hurrying people
Everyone seems to have
Somewhere to go

Where they belong
With their bags and briefcases
Clutched in their hands
The garbage bins
Begin to overflow
With the refuse
Of the hurrying people
Honking cars
And trundling buses
Grind through
The mazes
Of shouting hawkers
And scampering 

Wafts of dust

Mingled with dried leaves

The koel's voice
Is lost in the din

The crow croaks

And blinks