Without A Penny Poem by Pankajam Kottarath

After a sight seeing trip I return home early dawn
exhausted a bit, yet reinforced from within.
I open the gate. My pet dog comes
wagging its tail, like a pendulum,
for a loving pat, and is back
on his cement couch staring at nothing.

A pair of mynahs studying the architecture of wind
sitting on a fragile branch of the guava tree
makes the leaves shudder as they fly
and ebb from my vision; I pause for a moment.

A cat with green eyes, frequents my yard
sits at one corner with five cute kittens, cuddled.
I wish I could hug them, but she clutches them,
one by one, and goes under the staircase.

The pomegranate plant has its first fruit.
I fondly feel the tiny one, hold it for a while,
hear my soliloquy, “ Should have been here before..”
and look for more in store. “You made my day.”
Hearing my muffled voice, the mother plant sways, me too
with a great feel, all at my doorstep; Without a penny.