Snakes and the City
- Elizabeth Kurian ‘Mona’
Multilingual poet. Writes in Telugu & Hindi
(Hindi original : Dr. Ahilya Mishra)
SNAKES AND THE CITY
Friends, one hears that nowadays
The city is swarming with snakes.
Come, let’s go through the village,
Beyond its last boundary
Towards the jungle
Where we shall make
A dwelling, a hut, a tree house,
Clear the forest, cultivate a field,
Grow anew a banyan tree,
To dry the sweat dripping from our faces;
Let’s grow a peepal tree, an Asoka tree
And also sprout a mango tree
For sound sleep.
But the inhabitants
Should be only ourselves;
May Sister Peace and Brother Friendship
Set up their homes there;
In the center,
Let us erect a statue
And inscribe threon – Justice.
