Heavenly Gifts       

Chirping birds
Gently wake us
From the night’s slumber
Reminding us
We should commune
With our Creator
At the dawn time.
The flowers laugh,
Sway with joy,
As the morning breaks
Cheer up
The vast humanity
Preparing to
Embark upon its
Daily work.
At noon
The sun sheds
Its splendid radiance
On the world below
While we break up
For a little rest.
In the evenings
As we rush homewards
To join our dear ones
The twilight sky
Is a scene
To watch.
The night
Brings in its wake
Cool flowing breeze
That would lull us
Into soothing sleep
With the stars twinkling
And the moon smiling
In the heavens above
Filling our hearts
With poetry
And inspiring our souls
To dream of things
Here and yonder.
And yet we have
No time to acknowledge
The gifts supreme
From our heavenly Father
To sit and watch
Drink deeply
Of the beauty
Contemplate
On the manifest gifts
All around.
We shut ourselves
In air conditioned rooms
Spend hours in front
Of the idiot box
Watching fantasies
Those don’t exit
Staining our nerves
To discover a solution
To the growing hopelessness
In the world-
The unending wars.
The solution
Lies all around us
In the soft flowing waters
The fruit laden trees
The love songs
Of the nightingale
And the freely
Wandering clouds.

©Anil Sarwal
August 25, 2003