Sky-Clad Poem by Prabhakar Subramaniam

Behind the high wall

Near the bus-stop

Still stands the tree

Carrying a crow's nest

On its crest,

Though now a bare sculpture

The leaves all gone

The bark coming off

From branches and torso

Giving it a leucoderma look,

In the evening

It makes such a silhouette

That even the weary eyes linger

On the river

Spread on the darkening map,

Black lightning

Frozen in the sky,

A metaphor, half-understood,

Hope, still hoping

Penance, awaiting

Perhaps, the next rain

To rise again.