Where Could They Have Gone?

Krishna Prasai

Poet Krishna Prasai

I remember the interminable image
Of the flocks of parrots in a thousand pairs,
Flying in from the foreign land
Lying across my village home
And soaring above our rooftop
In their own playful accord
Before the onset of summer
Much before dawn opened its eyelid

Those birds
Left their land, beset by famine
And wandered in search of food
And flew in flocks, one after another
Without any daunt above the sky of my land

After the expiry of the sun's regal tenure
As soon as dusk came darting
Those foreign birds
Took a route along the border
And returned to the same foreign land of theirs
Pent-up with grains picked in my country

Memory is still fresh -
Of the panoramic rosiness of the east
Of the glorious mornings of my village
Of birds flying in flock after flock
Of those childhood days drifting with the morning wind
Of the pleasing hue of decent times
Of that recent light hinting the incoming dawn!
I tried all my best to meet them again
But in vain!

I am musing-
At which confluence did the images
Of these endearing memories
Get parted with me?
On which tree-bough could they be roosting now
And relentlessly crooning melodies of grief?

I too want to be a part
Of the flight of birds soaring in the sky:
I wish to become a bird
Of my own village, far, far away.

(Krishna Prasai is a poet, story writer and essayist. He has eight books to his credit. His works have been translated into Nepali, Korean, Bengali, Burmese, Thai, German, Hindi, Singhala and English. His poetry collection 'Never Say Goodbye' is one of the books available in English. 'Where Could They Have Gone?' is one of the poems from 'Never Say Goodbye')