Sparrows

 

 Just like childhood,

The sparrows seem to have disappeared

No garish feathers

Nor hues of vanity

No kingly size

They were just there,

Chirpy, tiny, simple –

As life should have been

Happy with existence alone

Holding on, being there

 

Somewhere perhaps

The skies got bigger

The wings in search

Of stronger convection winds

And the sparrows

Got lost

Disappearing from the tiny roofs

The orchard trees

Or the cool shadows

Of a summer’s day

 

Cumulous clouds

Still grace the blue skies

Of eternal summer days

Yet, somewhere

The sparrows have disappeared

Have they turned to

The raucous crows

The ruthless eagles

Or the cooing doves?

Bigger, stronger, faster?

 

Or have they turned

To the forever flying birds

Who move from land to land

In search of tomorrow?

Or did they never cross

The bridge of time

Happy in the bubbles

Of yesterday?

Were they prescient enough

To stay back in their sparseness

 

The sparrows don’t chirp back,

Or even if they do

We have turned unworthy

Of their happy souls.

Such is life, the age of man.

Yet, deep within, we know

The montage continues,

For the story never ended:

Once upon a time,

There were sparrows…

 

30^th July, 2025