A Vain Migration Poem by Vadakkumpurath Ramesan

The winter chill was intense
It became tick and pierced
The thick feather cover of cranes
That flapped the wings
In readiness to migrate!
To the hot Asian peninsula.
They moved as a caravan
Wading through the desert
In a flock fixing eyes
Straight to sight
The harvested fields of Asia
Where enough grains strewn
In the wheat and paddy fields
To cover the winter mirage
That cover the Siberia!
As they crossed the Khyber
As they crossed the Sindh
The Ganges, the Jamuna
They found the barren fields
Of Bundelkhand, the Kannauj
The dried up Chambal river,
The Narmada river
The abandoned fortress
Of Gwaliior kings
They moved to south
With the deepest desire
To see the harvested fields
Of the plains beyond
The Vindhyan ranges
But they lost way
As the annual visits
Found failed as the whole Asia
Lay barren with no reeds
With no trees to chirp
With no bushes to rest
They flocked over
The marshy land and peeped
The beaks to find a small fish
But failed in utter dismay.
The cranes sinked
In dormancy in noon heat
And as the dusk opened eyes
They arrayed and flocked
And flapped wings bidding
No farewell to the barren Asia
And moved to north
The winter clad Siberia!