Still Waters

Crowded shopping malls 

Edifices dwelling

Mushrooming apartments

Never have been the Dibrugarh

That I lived my childhood memories with.

Blinding lights of dismay

Less green ambience

Vanishing fields of hay

Never have been the reason

Of my outpouring joys.

As I step out with my masks

A necessary accessory 

After weeks of lockdown

I become a stranger 

To my own city I reside.

Nah! Can't meet I,

Nor greet

As I fail to recognise

Faces known-unknown,

Faultless beings succumb.

Silent battles fought within

Trails of uncertainty

Undefined destinations withheld

Heralding an era of great depression

Disregard of low lives and high.

Spring has seen its best perhaps

Without human intervention

Euphoric birds and animals

Untarnished blossoms 

None to adore.

Where do humans turn to?

Perhaps, the universe of  devices

With screens bright

Enslaved to virtual reality

Causing sleepless nights

Becomes the new normal

Just like still waters

Life is at halt 

For the better or worse

Let Karma decide

Not you nor I.

                        ~ Bornali ND