Old man who stares at mountains

Old man who stares at mountains

Sitting here on Debu-Nandita’s balcony

I feel

The late Spring sun on my back

I hear

The distant cow-bells

As stunted cattle go out to graze

The melodious mating call of the mountain mynah

The sibilant whisper of the breeze

Caressing the fronds of cheerh trees

I watch

The frenetic flight of the swifts

The languorous lammergeyer on its wings

The hurried fluttering of the hummingbird

Competing with the butterflies

Raiding the red rhododendrons.

And with my focussed-unfocussed eyes, see

The rolling hills, terraced fields and verdant valleys,

Distant Trishul and Nanda Ghunti

Playing hide-and-seek,

Perfectly content

With the evanescent frames and unchanging vista.