Angela Croft
Clearing
Beneath conifers and cloudy skies
where the scent of sandalwood lingers
girls trail in silken swathes
carrying wood from the shrinking forest
children sift through cones and needles
trace the roots of the banyan tree
wonder at the buried fossils
withered leaves and rotting stumps
hunt for lost treasures savaged and axed
when the rasp of a chain-saw
sent tigers running for cover
silenced the monkeys, startled the gaur
clipped the wings of the kestrel in flight
cleared the hills to grow tea and rice
split the world of the tribes asunder
Toda, Kota, Irula, Kurumba
but picturesque images can be downloaded
at the press of a button
in black and white, sepia or colour
birdsong and music in quadraphonic
though the cries of the people
went unrecorded
drowned out by the sound of the saw
the thundering hooves of the buffalo
Page(s) 51
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- Lamport Court
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