(n - Baba Amte -1994) Nature In Its Nakedness Poem by Kannan G

By the wounded Narmada
I see a sage today
Giving the healing touch
With silent dedication.
The wind is wild
Light is under threat
But he is still there
Closing in his palms
And safeguarding
The flame from death
Along with
The other-half
Of his breath.
He has built a ‘Tapovan’ over there
And is burning his glorious hours
In resolute meditation
For invoking sanity in men.
It is a ‘Brindavan’
Where you would hear
The melody of harmony
Flowing out
From the pristine flute of Nature.
There is tranquility in full bloom.
The air smells of the fragrance
Of unfaded love.
In his courtyard
Sparrows and squirrels
Give him spontaneous company.
His tender hospitality
Feeds them grains and fruits.
His spirit, free
From the clutches of modernity,
Mingles with them.
He says: “I hold silent dialogues
With them. It helps me maintain
A rapport with myself.”
Dialogues with men
Are more difficult these days!
The waters of the river
Wash wisdom at his feet.
The whispers within the forest
Tell him tales of co-existence.
He now delights in what
The twentieth century man
Seems to delight most
In forgetting,
In destroying.