AND QUIET 'FLOWED' THE RIVER

Let's keep our
worries close to our bosom
our worries, our own
none of anybody's business.
Hopes sometimes hit the shores
get scattered and
push us nowhere
let's not discuss about them
in this moon-lit, starry night.
Enjoy this moment
sanction a leave to the present
give a warm hug to the
'remembrance of the things past'
(Two or three pegs down
his throat in quick succession)
'listen to me -
The river dons a dark
green flowing suit
both sides embellished
by the thick green
ornaments of mangroves.
A kingfisher dives
down from nowhere and
flies away with a
fish.
Fish play somersault over the river surface
in the eerie calmness of
the afternoon
sunshine envelopes the dark green flow
a fisherman rowing his
boat somewhere.
Two youths in their
twenties
opposite gender.
Like the kingfisher
diving down and flying
away with the fish
warm kisses planted
on each other's cheeks
and both look around.
And quiet flows the river
and quiet flows the river
and quiet flows the river.
But you know
now the river has gone dry
the flowing dark green suit
thrown away
thick green embellishment of
mangroves a memory
the fisher man rowing
the boat in the eerie silence
of afternoon gone for good
the kingfisher must be
waiting in the wings somewhere
the two youths
now man and wife struggling in the troubled
waters of the city.
'Sorry darling, you have crossed
the boundary line and have
returned to the present'
True, we are condemned to
rivet to the present
and quiet 'flowed' the river
(the bottle emptied).