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In Another Life

If I had to be reborn,
And if I had a choice,
I would be a tree.
                                                        Art by Ananya Ravikumar
Not a horse,
Whose beauty
and majesty I
love and envy.

Not a bird,
With the power to soar
Above and away from
the petty concerns of living

Not a cheetah,
With all it's speed, power and grace.
Nor the leaping gazelle it hunts
With long and slender legs

Not a whale,
with the ocean to explore.
And not a human being.
I can stand it no more.

I would be a tree.
I would grow, solitary.
Taking only what I need.
Giving back,
All I can.

In a forest,
I would laugh
As squirrels scampered up my spine
I would watch the ant climb,
undaunted by the distance
With love.

I would hold with tender care
The eggs in the nest on my branches.
And watch with pride, and a little sadness
As the younglings learned to fly.
Far away- to another tree perhaps.

I would drink to my heart's content
The warm sunshine that fell on my leaves.
And embrace the earth, my mother,
As I took from her the lifeblood in my veins.

                                                        Art by Ananya Ravikumar





In a city,
Perhaps I would grow on a sidewalk.
Sprouting from a seed a little boy spit out
As he ran to meet his friends.

I would grow for years.
And watch as the boy,
No longer suited to that name,
walked past with his grandchildren.

I would watch as the sidewalk grew smaller
And the road grew bigger.
Someone would come by with a nail and a poster
And I would advertise the latest movie.

Once in a while, the people in green would form a ring around me
And there would be fighting and a lot of cameras flashing.
The rings in my trunk would increase,
And the ring outside it would thin
When the green people's grandchildren
Needed a new sidewalk.
And then my time would be up.

But even in death, I would be of use.
Perhaps I would be the woodwork in the grandchild's study
Perhaps a bench in a waiting room
Perhaps I would burn,
Giving the last of my warmth
To cold hands that needed it.

                                                              - Ananya Ravikumar
                                                                                Dec 2014




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