The Blue Kurunji Flower Poem by Jagannath rao Adukuri

These questions came up early
Thoughts streamed in, interrupted
By a bizarre subterranean logic
They have gone away vacating space
Here, on the ground, there is space
Where there was a vaulting dome
The elephants cried in streaming tears
Shuffling and stamping chained feet
I see a one-legged crow sitting, quietly,
On the cable that bridged vast silences
The only link between then and now
Between man and humankind.
We had gone in the deep forest
Looking for a blue kurunji flower
That bloomed once in twelve years.
There was empty space everywhere
There was no kurunji flower in sight
That ebony-backed tribal laughed
And denied there was any such thing.
We do not believe him in our dreams
The old forest guard told us the last time
He had seen the tree in bloom
We shall wait for the next season
Twelve years shall pass in no time
There will be magnificent pageants
In this space of time in this place
We shall barter innocence for beauty.