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My Tryst with the Spry Squirrel


An evocative poem about a squirrel, with reference in the Ramayana, exclusively for Different Truths

I watched the spry squirrel 
scamper away hearing                                         
my footfall, its ear turned
to even slight dissonance of
sound and it rushed to guard
its nest; a fretful companion,
content to feed its
squealing offsprings, also
hearkening to my short fuse.
 
Its energy was unfailing;
it would sweep to the
terrace to grab any morsel
It could feed, the red stripes
on its back, blessed by mythical
Lord Ram*, kept egging it on
perhaps, it knew when
the windows would
drop down at night to squeeze
inside for a nap in its niche;
Its squealing heralded
the dawn of dawn too.
Nudging me to open
the window to the trove
of morning breeze flowing in;
And it would rush out.
 
Wonder what is its missive?
“Wake up Man, it’s time.”

*A mythological hero from the Indian epic Ramayana. 

Visual by Different Truths

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K. S. Subramanian
K.S. Subramanian has published two volumes of poetry titled Ragpickers and Treading on Gnarled Sand through the Writers Workshop, Kolkata, India. His poem ‘Dreams’ won the cash award in Asian Age, a daily published from New Delhi. He has been featured in MuseIndia. His poems and short stories have also appeared in magazines, anthologies and web sites run at home and abroad. He is a retd. Senior Asst. Editor from The Hindu, India.

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