in times of uncertainty
all along the river bank, life hums
pigeons coo from rooftops a background score,
to the old lady
pounding spices with a mortar and pestle in her backyard.
Further down a kingfisher perches on the fence,
waiting
and watching
A cockrel crows in the distance
while a squirrel shimmies up a tree near me,
the ground below littered with fallen jambu and green mango half eaten.
a red woodpecker trills as it climbs up a branch, before stopping to tap rat a a tat tat
a flock of green parrots suddenly zoom towards me,
all green backed and red beaked,
in fighter plane formation.
A bluebottle buzzes by my ear
into a clump of elephant ears
standing at attention,
A swift skims the water as it crosses the river
while a monitor lizard swims languidly by.
Radiating ripples tell of life teeming beneath even as
a terrapin pokes it head out, and heads the other way.
On the other side in the long grass,
bullfrogs belt out their tuba tunes.
the river water glows double green
reflecting the trees lining the banks,
showcasing an underwater city
That mesmerising sheen of green
is broken by a flash of ultramarine
as a blue-eared kingfisher darts among the trees.
A shower of yellow leaves rain as if on cue
the curtain falling on this morning's show
and I leave for home, at peace.
a heron hulking over the fence
a flash of yellow as a golden oriole swoops from branch to branch
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