Dancing with the breeze

I walk down the road

Of my neighbourhood

Passing by squatting

Vegetable and fruit vendors

Huddled under bright yellow and blue

Plastic tarpaulins

An old mochi piecing together

Tattered old leather chapplas

The row of rickshas

The drivers chewing paan

Spitting the bright red juice

On the wet footpath

Chatting and looking at me expectantly

A sudden scooter

Darting by with a sharp beep

Cars swishing by

Spattering the mud brown

Rain water –

I walk along

Sniffing the rain, feeling the breeze

Caressing my face

I come to an open expanse

And breathe the day in --

The clouds in the sky

The trees shedding droplets --

I throw my head back

And there..In the clouds

I see a bird

Dancing with the breeze –

A grey and white bird

With a long tail

Streaming behind

Jauntily tossing about

In the grey grey sky –

I watch it for a while

And turn around

To walk back home

A sudden jaunty spring

Giving wings to my step
My heart
Dancing with the breeze

-by Rita Putatunda